Leonardo DiCaprio’s Controversial Award-Winning Biopic Becomes a Free Streaming Hit 12 Years Later

Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are a bankable combination in Hollywood, having collaborated on several box office hits. One of the duo’s most successful — and polarizing — entries has found new momentum on the streaming charts, as The Wolf of Wall Street becomes a hit over a decade after its premiere.

Per Collider, The Wolf of Wall Street is now a free streaming sensation, ranking 7th on Pluto TV’s Top 10 movies chart. The 2013 film has been making waves on streaming in 2025; it also landed on the Hulu charts in April.

Directed by Scorsese and penned by Tulsa King’s Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street was based on the titular memoir by stockbroker and businessman turned criminal Jordan Belfort. DiCaprio portrayed Belfort, chronicling how he built a fraudulent empire through rampant corruption on Wall Street — while charming those around him and blowing some of his fortune on drugs.

DiCaprio starred alongside Oscar nominee Margot Robbie, who played Belfort’s second wife Naomi Lapaglia. The movie also featured Jonah Hill as Belfort’s business partner Donnie Azoff, and Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey as Belfort’s mentor and former boss Mark Hanna.

The Wolf of Wall Street had a 79% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earned five Oscar nominations. They were a Best Actor nomination for DiCaprio, Best Supporting Actor for Hill, Best Director for Scorsese, Best Adapted Screenplay for Winter and Best Picture. Though DiCaprio had to wait until The Revenant two years later to finally capture his elusive Academy Award, he took home a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Belfort.

The Wolf of Wall Street Faced Multiple Controversies After the Movie’s Release

The Wolf of Wall Street received praise from Belfort, though he maintained that some elements of his depiction in the movie were either inaccurate or exaggerated. And while the movie became a box-office hit, making $407 million worldwide against its $100 million budget to become Scorsese’s highest-grossing film, it was criticized for glorifying Belfort’s criminal behavior and for its use of animals. Its financing was also implicated in a corruption scandal, leading to the arrest of producer Riza Aziz and Belfort filing a lawsuit.

The Wolf of Wall Street further holds the Guinness World Record for the most instances of profanity in a film. And aong with its streaming renaissance, The Wolf of Wall Street is also getting the documentary treatment at Hulu. A documentary is in development via Campfire Studios that will follow Belfort and his firm, Stratton Oakmont, where he operated his “pump-and-dump” schemes.

The Wolf of Wall Street is now streaming on Pluto TV.

Source: Collider