(Credits: Netflix)

One of the easiest ways to guarantee a smash hit on Netflix is to gather at least one A-list star and cast them in the lead of a light, breezy, and undemanding action-packed caper. If it ain’t broke, then the streaming service has no intention of fixing it, with The Union the latest winner to roll off the production line.

Partnering Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry, the pair play a construction worker and his high school sweetheart, with the latter now working for a secretive agency that prevents threats to world safety. Recruiting by his former flame, Wahlberg’s average Joe gets drawn into a world of counterintelligence and duplicity, making them the only two capable of preventing a global catastrophe.

The Union, like the majority of Netflix’s blockbuster output, is not an Oscar-worthy movie, but that doesn’t matter when they’re always successful. To that end, the film is the runaway leader on this week’s most-watched list, amassing over 60 million hours viewed in its debut week.

The next two spots are occupied by other tales of cinematic espionage, with Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service and its sequel The Golden Circle occupying second and third, with subscribers drawn to Taron Egerton’s Eggsy saving the day in violent and foul-mouthed fashion.

There are four animated flicks in the list, too, including one of the worst films ever made. Indicative of its overall quality, Patrick Stewart voices a literal piece of feces in The Emoji Movie, which must have distracted younger viewers with its gaudy visuals and product placement to make it all the way up to fourth.

SpongeBob SquarePants adventure Saving Bikini Bottom, John Cena’s talking horse movie Ferdinand, and sequel Trolls Band Together round out the remainder of the animated contingent. Animals are a recurring theme beyond that, with the Rob Lowe-narrated documentary Inside the Mind of a Dog arriving in sixth to give audiences an insight into what their canines are really thinking.

There’s even space for Michael Bay, too, with Jake Gyllenhaal’s frantic chase caper Ambulance sneaking onto the list in ninth place to provide even more action to go along with the heavy helping of animation.

The 10 most popular films on Netflix this week:

• The Union
• Kingsman: The Secret Service
• Kingsman: The Golden Circle
• The Emoji Movie
• Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie
• Inside the Mind of a Dog
• Ferdinand
• Ambulance
• Trolls Band Together