Adam Sandler's Halloween film Hubie Halloween has become Netflix's most successful movie of 2020, with the goofy holiday film scoring a staggering success after only coming out on October 7.
The events of 2020 have made time feel warped, and it seems like it was much further back than January that Sandler was winning widespread plaudits for his serious acting as the lead in gritty drama Uncut Gems.
Hubie Halloween, however, saw him return to much more familiar territory in his own Happy Madison production, playing a small town loser who ends up being the community's biggest hope when they become afflicted by all manner of Halloween spookiness.
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Unsurprisingly the critics who were so keen to praise him ten months previously were less than enamoured with this return to, uh, form. However their misgivings haven't been shared by Netflix subscribers and, according to Variety, the seasonal flick has become the most-watched Netflix original movie in the United States between April and October this year - despite only having three weeks or so to achieve it.
When you look at what other Netflix originals have been released during that period this really becomes quite a story indeed. Hubie Halloween's success means that it has been watched more than the Chris Hemsworth-starring action-thriller Extraction, Charlie Kaufman's much lauded horror I'm Thinking of Ending Things, and potential Oscars 2021 candidate Da 5 Bloods.
In fact, the only film that's been watched more is Polish film 365 Days, which has been a truly global sensation beyond the United States.
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Sandler has enjoyed a successful partnership with Netflix since agreeing to a distribution deal with the streaming service for movies coming out on Happy Madison productions. Since 2014, films like The Ridiculous 6, The Do-Over and Father of the Year have all been popular and the deal was renewed at the beginning of the year, around about the time Uncut Gems was released.
Hubie Halloween's success is probably due to several things it had going for it: the timing of it's release in the build-up to Halloween no doubt played a big part, as did the fact that many Americans were stuck inside for this year's spooky season and so were more likely to turn to the streaming service to get their Halloween fix.
There's also the fact that a new big-name Halloween film comes along surprisingly few and far between these days, with many still returning to the old favourites year after year.
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Ultimately, as well, Sandler's comedy schtick still retains a lot of popularity and, while reviewers may have moved on from it, the actor still commands a strong fan base among people who just want to see him put on funny accents and raise his voice loudly for punchlines.
Featured Image Credit: Credit: Netflix