Picture: The Wandering Earth – China Film Group Corporation
After 8 years on Netflix, one of China’s highest-grossing films ever, The Wandering Earth, is leaving the platform in October 2026.
First added to Netflix on May 5, 2019, The Wandering Earth was a major addition to the streaming service and was, at the time, the 2nd highest-grossing film in Chinese history. In the 8 years the film has been available to stream on Netflix, it has fallen to 6th, having been surpassed by films such as Ne Zha and Ne Zha 2, The Battle at Lake Changjin, and Hi Mom. In total, it grossed over ¥4.6 billion at the box office, which equates to approximately $700 million today.
When the dying sun begins to rapidly expand, threatening to engulf the solar system, humanity unites to build colossal thrusters to propel Earth to a new star system. As the planet passes Jupiter, a gravitational malfunction risks total annihilation, forcing a desperate rescue team to ignite a spark of hope.
When is The Wandering Earth leaving Netflix?
The Wandering Earth is currently listed to leave Netflix in the US and UK on October 2, 2026. On the film’s landing page on the Netflix app or in your web browser, you can find the last day to watch listed as October 1, 2026.
Click the link here to check if The Wandering Earth is leaving Netflix in your region.
Why is The Wandering Earth leaving Netflix?
But isn’t The Wandering Earth a Netflix original, you ask? Yes, it is. However, the film was never produced by Netflix; the streaming service paid to carry it exclusively outside China worldwide. This means the film was only ever going to be on Netflix for a limited time, and that period is now coming to an end.
Will Netflix renew its license to stream The Wandering Earth?
While it’s always possible that Netflix could renew its license for a film like The Wandering Earth, the real question is whether there’s enough demand for it among the platform’s hundreds of millions of subscribers. The data we have to hand suggests that Netflix won’t be renewing its license for the film.
While we don’t have data from the film’s first 4 years on Netflix, we do have engagement reports since 2023, and the data over the last few years clearly shows there isn’t a massive demand for the film among subscribers.
| Title Name | 2023 Views | 2024 Views | 2025 Views | 2026 H1 Views | Total Views |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Wandering Earth | 3,000,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,400,000 | 700,000 | 6,600,000 |
As you can see from the table above, since 2023, The Wandering Earth has amassed 6.6 million views. However, with each passing year, there has been a steady decline in viewership. The bulk of these views came in 2023, when the film received 3 million views, a healthy number for a film that had already been on the platform for four years. That viewership halved in 2024, fell by only 100,000 in 2025, and at the current rate, 2026 is on track to have even fewer viewers.
Also, it must be noted that the film’s prequel, The Wandering Earth 2, currently the 13th highest-grossing Chinese film of all time, was never added to Netflix’s global library and is only available in South Korea. If the first film had been a smash hit on Netflix and demand had been high, it’s likely that Netflix would have sought to license it globally.
Will you be sad to see The Wandering Earth leave Netflix in October 2026? Let us know in the comments below!
