Mazel Tov! Netflix’s Bet on Adam Sandler Keeps Paying Off | Chart
When Netflix first signed Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions to a four-movie deal in 2014, the reaction was to laugh it off: “Out of left field” and “improbable” were some of the kinder terms used.
The deal, renewed twice since then, has been paying off for Netflix. The latest Sandler movie, “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah” was the most-streamed movie in the U.S. over Labor Day weekend, according to Whip Media’s Movie Ranker, which uses viewership data from TV Time, its TV show and movie tracking app with more than 26 million global registered users.
Based on the YA novel of the same name, the coming-of-age comedy stars Sandler and his real-life teenage daughter Sunny. (Sunny and sister Sadie also starred in 2020’s “Hubie Halloween,” also on Netflix.)
Netflix originally signed Sandler because it noticed how well his movies performed on the service. Skipping theaters might mean missing out on some buzz, but it’s not like Sandler’s body of work ever charmed critics.
Another movie that seems to be faring better on streaming than it did at the box office is “The Flash,” recently added to Max. It’s possible many waited to watch the DC title at home.
Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” sat at No. 3. It had a stronger box office run and has seen sustained interest on Disney+. Audiences will be able to stream “Assembled: The Making of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’” starting next week. Another film starring Chris Pratt, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” came in at No. 6.
Romance is another popular theme on the weekend’s chart. Sony’s “Love Again” hit Netflix just ahead of the holiday and came in at No. 4. The love story, based on the 2016 German film “SMS für Dich,” stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan and Celine Dion as herself. Prime Video’s “Red, White & Royal Blue,” brought a “huge surge” of new subscribers to the service, Amazon said, and stayed on the chart at No. 7. And at No. 8, Netflix tried its hand at an interactive release: “Choose Love” allows viewers to decide the fate of the main character, creating multiple possibilities on how the story will end.
Nadine Suleiman is a senior marketing manager at Whip Media, a WrapPRO partner. Click here for more from Whip Media.
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