Patrick Stewart’s Final Film Release Became the Highest-Rated Movie of Hugh Jackman’s Career
Before his death this week, Sir Patrick Stewart had one last film released in his lifetime. It wasn’t a Shakespeare adaptation, a Star Trek movie or an X-Men epic. It was a whodunit about talking sheep, and critics loved it more than anything Hugh Jackman has ever made.
Stewart died on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86. His family said he had been living with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia, conditions he had kept private. His wife, Sunny Ozell, was by his side.
In the days since, fans have been returning to his work, and many are discovering The Sheep Detectives, a gentle family film that has quietly become one of the most acclaimed releases of the year.
A Shepherd, a Murder and a Flock of Sleuths
The Sheep Detectives opened in theaters on May 8, 2026, from Amazon MGM Studios. Jackman plays George Hardy, a shepherd who reads detective novels to his sheep every evening. When George is killed, the flock, which understands far more than anyone guessed, decides to track down the murderer.
The film was directed by Kyle Balda and written by Craig Mazin, the writer behind Chernobyl and co-creator of The Last of Us. It adapts Leonie Swann’s bestselling novel, and reviewers summed it up as Babe crossed with Knives Out.
Stewart voiced Sir Ritchfield, the flock’s distinguished elder statesman. He was joined by Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Lily, the flock’s lead investigator, Bryan Cranston as the loner Sebastian, and Chris O’Dowd as Mopple, the sheep with the best memory. Regina Hall, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein and Rhys Darby completed the flock, while Emma Thompson, Hong Chau, Nicholas Braun and Nicholas Galitzine appeared alongside Jackman on screen.
Beating Wolverine at His Own Game
When reviews first arrived in late April, the film debuted at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. That edged out Logan, the 2017 film many consider Jackman’s masterpiece, at 93%, and his acclaimed HBO drama Bad Education, at 94%.
Months later, the movie remains “Certified Fresh” with a critics’ score in the mid-90s and a 96% audience score. That agreement between critics and everyday viewers is unusual, and it confirms The Sheep Detectives as the highest-rated film in Jackman’s long career.
It’s worth noting that a Rotten Tomatoes score measures how many critics liked a film, not how much. Many fans will still argue that Logan or The Prestige is Jackman’s finest work. But by the industry’s most-watched yardstick, the sheep are on top.
Slow Start, Strong Finish
The film didn’t make much noise at the box office during a busy spring. Its real success came later, on streaming. By June 30, it had become the No. 1 title on Prime Video in the United States, and a Blu-ray and DVD release followed on August 25.
Since news of Stewart’s death, interest in the film has surged again, as fans seek out the last new performance he gave them during his lifetime.
The Friendship Behind the Film
What makes the film’s success especially meaningful is the history between Stewart and Jackman.
The two first worked together in X-Men in 2000. Jackman was an unknown Australian stage actor, and Stewart was already world-famous as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. As Wolverine and Professor Charles Xavier, they anchored one of the most successful franchises of the early superhero era.
Their partnership peaked with Logan, directed by James Mangold. In it, Jackman’s weary Logan cares for Stewart’s elderly, ailing Xavier, whose mind is failing. It became the first superhero film nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Stewart’s performance is now especially hard to watch knowing the illness he faced at the end of his own life.
After Stewart’s death, Jackman wrote on Instagram that the world had lost one of the greats of stage and screen, and that he would miss his friend all his days.
Six Decades on Stage and Screen
Born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, in 1940, Stewart trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and spent years with the Royal Shakespeare Company before Star Trek: The Next Generation made him a household name in 1987. He returned as Picard in Star Trek: Picard from 2020 to 2023, was knighted in 2010 and won two Olivier Awards. With his close friend Ian McKellen, he starred in Waiting for Godot in London and on Broadway.
He also had a famously good sense of humor, lending his voice to Seth MacFarlane’s American Dad and Family Guy and appearing in Ricky Gervais’ Extras.
He never wanted to stop. In an interview published by TV Insider in July, he said he couldn’t imagine ever officially retiring.
Still One More to Come
The Sheep Detectives may have been the final film released while Stewart was alive, but it isn’t his last performance. He returns as Professor X in Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday, opening December 18, 2026. Marvel Studios called him a singular talent who defined the character for generations.
Until then, fans looking to remember him can find his warm, unmistakable voice in a film about a flock of sheep searching for justice, and in a performance that helped give his old friend Hugh Jackman the best reviews of his life.
