What to Watch This Week: 5 New Shows and Movies Streaming Nov. 16-22, From Madden to Percy Jackson Season 3

Not sure what to watch this week? The week before Thanksgiving is stacked. Nicolas Cage plays John Madden on Prime Video, Percy Jackson is back on Disney+, HBO Max gets A24’s Anthony Bourdain movie from this summer, and Netflix drops a crypto scandal drama and a holiday rom-com with Jared Padalecki.

We picked the 5 best new shows and movies streaming this week (Nov. 16–22, 2026) in the US, with release dates, where to watch, cast and the official trailer for each one.

What to watch this week: the quick list

1. Madden (Prime Video, Nov. 18)

• Where to watch: Prime Video, included with Amazon Prime ($14.99 a month in the US)
• Release date: Wednesday, Nov. 18
• Director: David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle)
• Cast: Nicolas Cage, Christian Bale, Kathryn Hahn, John Mulaney, Sienna Miller, Shane Gillis

Nicolas Cage playing John Madden sounds like an internet joke, but it is very real. Madden follows the legendary coach from his Super Bowl win with the Oakland Raiders to becoming the most famous voice in football, and finally to the video game that still carries his name, Madden NFL.

The cast is stacked. Christian Bale plays Raiders owner Al Davis, Madden’s best friend and partner, Kathryn Hahn plays his wife Virginia, and John Mulaney plays EA Sports founder Trip Hawkins. The timing is perfect, too: Madden was the face of Thanksgiving football for decades, and this lands on Prime Video one week before the holiday. It opened in a limited theatrical run on Nov. 11, so Prime Video is the first chance most people will get to see it.

Watch it if you liked: Moneyball, Air, Ford v Ferrari.

2. Guarding Stars (Netflix, Nov. 18)

• Where to watch: Netflix
• Release date: Wednesday, Nov. 18
• Based on: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
• Cast: Leighton Meester, Jared Padalecki

This is the new Netflix holiday movie to put on with a blanket and hot chocolate. Leighton Meester plays a tiny, no-nonsense executive protection agent hired to protect a famous action movie star, played by Jared Padalecki, from a stalker. The catch: she has to pose as his girlfriend during a holiday trip to his family’s Montana ranch.

It is a fake-dating, opposites-attract rom-com based on Katherine Center’s novel, so book fans already know the beats. For Gossip Girl and Supernatural fans, seeing Meester and Padalecki together on a Christmas ranch is reason enough.

Watch it if you liked: The Proposal, Set It Up, A Family Affair.

3. The Altruists (Netflix, Nov. 19)

• Where to watch: Netflix
• Release date: Thursday, Nov. 19
• Episodes: 8 (limited series)
• Creator: Graham Moore, the Oscar-winning writer of The Imitation Game
• Cast: Julia Garner, Anthony Boyle

This could be the most talked-about new Netflix series of the week. The Altruists tells the story of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of crypto exchange FTX, and Caroline Ellison, who ran his trading firm Alameda Research. The pair tried to remake the global financial system and were accused of stealing $8 billion. Netflix calls them “Gen Z’s own Bonnie and Clyde”.

Anthony Boyle (Masters of the Air) plays Bankman-Fried, and Emmy winner Julia Garner (Ozark) plays Ellison. Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud in 2023 and sentenced to 25 years in prison, so you probably know how it ends. The fun is watching how two self-described idealists got there.

Watch it if you liked: The Dropout, Super Pumped, Inventing Anna.

4. Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3 (Disney+, Nov. 20)

• Where to watch: Disney+
• Release date: Friday, Nov. 20 (two-episode premiere)
• Episode schedule: Two new episodes every Friday until the finale on Dec. 11
• Cast: Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Charlie Bushnell, Tamara Smart, Levi Chrisopulos, Olive Abercrombie

The biggest returning show of the week. Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3 adapts The Titan’s Curse, Rick Riordan’s third book, and it is the first time that story has ever been put on screen. Annabeth suddenly disappears, and Percy has to deal with the Great Prophecy, which says a child of the Big Three gods will either save Olympus or destroy it.

Book fans have been waiting for this one because it brings in Nico and Bianca di Angelo, played by Levi Chrisopulos and Olive Abercrombie, alongside Tamara Smart’s Thalia. With two episodes a week, the whole season wraps up in under a month.

Watch it if you liked: Harry Potter, Wednesday, Avatar: The Last Airbender.

5. Tony (HBO Max, Nov. 20)

• Where to watch: HBO Max
• Release date: Friday, Nov. 20
• Director: Matt Johnson (BlackBerry)
• Cast: Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall, Rich Sommer, Stavros Halkias

If you missed A24’s Anthony Bourdain movie in theaters this summer, now it is included with your HBO Max subscription. Tony follows a 19-year-old Bourdain who travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaos of a restaurant kitchen, kicking off the summer that set the course of his life.

Dominic Sessa, the breakout star of The Holdovers, plays the young Bourdain, with Antonio Banderas as the chef who runs the kitchen. It is a coming-of-age story first and a food movie second, and it makes a great double feature with Roadrunner, the 2021 Bourdain documentary.

Watch it if you liked: The Bear, The Holdovers, Boiling Point.

Also new on streaming this week

• Steps (Netflix, Nov. 20): An animated musical comedy where Cinderella’s “evil” stepsister Lilith (Ali Wong) steals the Fairy Godmother’s wand. Amanda Seyfried voices Cinderella and Bette Midler voices the Fairy Godmother. A great pick for family movie night.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3, Episodes 5 and 6 (Prime Video, Nov. 18): The next two episodes of the season.
• Gentle Monster (Netflix, Nov. 18): Léa Seydoux stars as a concert pianist whose new life in the countryside falls apart when police show up with a search warrant, forcing her to face her husband’s secret.
• Primetime Preacher$ (Netflix, Nov. 20): A documentary about the 1980s televangelist boom and the scandals that brought it down.

Our pick of the week

If you only have time for one, make it Madden. It is a crowd-pleaser the whole family can watch before Thanksgiving football, and Nicolas Cage and Christian Bale in the same movie is not something you see every week. If your house has teenagers, Percy Jackson Season 3 is the one they will be talking about on Friday.

What are you watching this week? Tell us in the comments.

Need more to watch? Catch up with our Yellowjackets Season 4 guide and our biggest FROM theories before Season 5.

New on streaming this week: FAQ

What’s new on Netflix this week?
The biggest new Netflix releases this week are Guarding Stars (Nov. 18), The Altruists (Nov. 19) and the animated movie Steps (Nov. 20).

When does Madden come out on Prime Video?
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2026. It is included with an Amazon Prime membership.

What time does Percy Jackson Season 3 come out?
The first two episodes arrive on Disney+ on Friday, Nov. 20. Disney+ has not confirmed an exact time. Many Disney+ originals go live at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET the night before their listed date, so check the app on Thursday evening.

Is Tony streaming?
Yes. A24’s Tony starts streaming on HBO Max on Nov. 20. Since September, it has been available to rent or buy digitally.

Is The Altruists a true story?
Yes. It is a dramatized retelling of the rise and collapse of crypto exchange FTX, its founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison.

Sources

Release dates were checked on Nov. 14, 2026, and can change, so check each streaming service before you settle in.

• Amazon: Everything to know about Madden
• Netflix Tudum: New on Netflix in November 2026
• Disney+ Press: Percy Jackson Season 3 premiere date
• When To Stream: Tony HBO Max release date
• The Hollywood Reporter: Netflix November 2026 releases
• How-To Geek: Rings of Power Season 3 episode schedule
• FanBolt: Percy Jackson Season 3 release schedule