Topline
Jodie Foster’s 20-year-old movie “Flightplan” broke into the Netflix most-watched list last week as the long awaited “Happy Gilmore 2” held onto its record breaking spot at the top of the chart and its predecessor, which released almost 30 years ago, stayed in the top 10 for the third week in a row.
Actress Jodie Foster attends a press conference promoting “Flightplan” on Janu. 11, 2005 in Tokyo.
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Key Facts
“Flightplan,” which has a paltry 37% critics score and 48% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, was viewed 6.2 million times to become the eighth most-watched movie of the week globally from July 28 to Aug. 3.
The film, a thriller about a widow who becomes frantic when her 6-year-old daughter disappears on a transatlantic flight, broke into the top 10 in 62 countries and is the No. 1 movie in three countries.
The resurgence of “Flightplan” is reflective of a broader trend that sees older films finding a second life on streaming, often for no obvious reason or thanks to the hard-to-explain trends of Netflix’s recommendation algorithm.
Other older films that have enjoyed the so-called “Netflix effect” this summer and jumped into the Top 10 include “The Quick and the Dead,” a western from 1995, 2007 sci-fi thriller “28 Weeks Later” and Jerry Seinfeld’s “Bee Movie,” first released in 2007.
“Happy Gilmore 2,” which had the biggest 3-day U.S. opening ever for a Netflix film when it released last week, was in the No. 1 spot again last week and “Happy Gilmore,” its 29-year-old predecessor, was in the No. 4 spot on the most-watched list.
“KPop Demon Hunters,” was the second most-watched film of last week with “My Oxford Year” at No. 3 and “Gladiator II” at No. 5.
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Big Number
4. Despite only releasing June 20, the “KPop Demon Hunters” film is already the fourth most-watched movie in Netflix history with 158.8 million views. The only movies that have been watched more are “Don’t Look Up” (171.4 million views), “Carry-On” (172.1 million) and “Red Notice” (230.9 million).
Key Background
“Happy Gilmore 2” was greenlit by Netflix last summer, years after the original film’s star, Adam Sandler, said he hoped to someday make a sequel. Big-name casting announcements followed, including the addition of Nick Swardson, Benny Safdie, Julie Bowen, Bad Bunny and Margaret Qualley. It was also revealed footballer Travis Kelce, wrestler Maxwell Jacob Friedman and golfer John Daly would all make appearances. Ultimately, dozens of celebrities and professional athletes appeared in the movie, which broke not only the opening weekend record but also became the most-watched Sandler movie on Netflix in the actor’s decade of working with the streamer.
Surprising Fact
After three weeks in the top 10, “Happy Gilmore” was removed from Netflix on July 31.