The Man in the Iron Mask: Leonardo DiCaprio’s 1998 Film Resurfaces As A Global Netflix Hit

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The 1998 film The Man in the Iron Mask, starring Leonardo DiCaprio in two roles – both the masked man and the antagonist – is experiencing a surprising resurgence in popularity as a hit on Netflix. Though released over two decades ago, it’s now finding a new audience worldwide.

As of today, January 19th, the 1998 film The Man in the Iron Mask is surprisingly popular on Netflix, landing at number nine on the platform’s global Top 10 list, according to FlixPatrol. It’s currently more popular than movies like Madagascar, but less popular than One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5, The Magnificent Seven (2016), Freelance, Accepted, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, KPop Demon Hunters, People We Meet on Vacation, and The Rip which is currently number one.

This week, the movie The Man in the Iron Mask is a Top 10 hit on Netflix in 26 countries, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a few in Europe. While it’s not currently on Netflix in the US, you can still watch The Man in the Iron Mask on Prime Video, or for free on streaming services like Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Tubi.

Randall Wallace’s first film as writer and director, The Man in the Iron Mask, features Leonardo DiCaprio in a dual role as the tyrannical King Louis XIV and his rumored twin brother. The movie follows the Four Musketeers as they devise a daring scheme to free the imprisoned twin and potentially place him on the throne.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio in two roles, alongside Jeremy Irons as Aramis, John Malkovich as Athos, Gérard Depardieu as Porthos, and Gabriel Byrne as D’Artagnan. Anne Parillaud plays Queen Anne of Austria, and the cast also includes Judith Godrèche, Peter Sarsgaard, Edward Atterton, Hugh Laurie, and David Lowe.

Although the movie takes inspiration from Alexandre Dumas’ D’Artagnan Romances and includes some ideas from his 1847–1850 novel, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, it primarily tells the story of the Man in the Iron Mask. It’s more similar to the 1929 film with Douglas Fairbanks and the 1939 version directed by James Whale than it is to Dumas’ original book.

While featuring Leonardo DiCaprio in a unique double role, the movie The Man in the Iron Mask received generally negative reviews. Critics at Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 33% rating, finding that the film’s attempt to recreate the excitement of Alexandre Dumas’ story felt forced and lacked the original’s charm and romance.

Although critics had varying opinions, The Man in the Iron Mask performed well at the box office. Released around the same time as Leonardo DiCaprio’s breakout hit, Titanic, it earned over $182 million despite costing only $35 million to make.

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2026-01-20 01:58