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Here’s Why Netflix Wants Adam Sandler Even Though Critics Trash His Movies
Universal
Adam Sandler in one of his early classics, “Billy Madison.”
Thursday, Netflix announced four original Adam Sandler movies will be coming to the streaming site.
It may seem like a strange deal for Netflix to take on considering Sandler’s more recent films including “That’s My Boy” and “Blended” have been critically panned.
However, it’s probably one of the smartest movies Netflix has made to date.
Critics aside, the majority of Sandler’s movies do extremely well at the box office and if they’re not hits domestically, they perform well overseas.
With the exception of the “Grown Ups” series, Sandler’s movies have been performing progressively worse stateside. On the flip side, his movies have slowly been making more overseas than at home.
Here are a look at Sandler’s comedies from 2006-2014.
Kirsten Acuna/Business Insider, numbers: BoxOfficeMojo
Four of his films since 2011 have made more money at the foreign box office than domestically.
Kirsten Acuna/Business Insider, Numbers: BoxOfficeMojo
So it’s not a surprise Netflix claims Sandler’s films are among the most-viewed by subscribers not only in the U.S. but around the world in its over 40 territories including Brazil and the U.K.
The Sandler films available to stream vary by country.
Netflix Brazil has a wide selection of Sandler’s comedy hits to stream this month.
Netflix The UK has a smaller selection of similar Sandler movies including “Billy Madison” and box-office bomb “Jack and Jill.”
If you look up Adam Sandler on Netflix in the US, you’ll find an even smaller selection of films. The biggest noticeable difference here is that the US version of Netflix contains more serious Sandler roles like “Punch-Drunk Love” and “Reign Over Me.”
Netflix
“People love Adams [sic] films on Netflix and often watch them again and again. His appeal spans across viewers of all ages — everybody has a favorite movie, everyone has a favorite line — not just in the US but all over the world,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos in Thursday’s press release.
According to Vulture, the budgets for the four films are similar to those of Sandler’s previous works. Sandler’s most recent films have average budgets of $75-$80 million while his less expensive films like “Blended” cost $40 million.
The Wall Street Journal reports one film is expected to be put out per year.
Regardless of what anyone may think of a Sandler film, it’s clear people go out and see his films. According to Netflix, it’s clear that people enjoy rewatching his movies over and over, and if not here, then elsewhere around the world.
That’s where Netflix sees the payoff with Sandler.
Will these movies be awful in the eyes of critics? If history is any precedent, surely. Will they have crude humor that will make you roll your eyes? You can probably bet yes.
Regardless, will you secretly stream the films in the comfort of your home while trying to maintain that Sandler films are not funny or at least amusing? Probably.
Netflix probably thinks so, too.
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