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The Ridiculous Six is breaking Netflix records

'In the first 30 days on Netflix it's been the most-watched movie in the history of Netflix'

Jack Shepherd
Thursday 07 January 2016 05:01 EST
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Adam Sandler’s The Ridiculous Six had a reasonably tricky production period, with Native American actors walking away from the project because of ‘disrespectful stereotypes’.

Upon the film’s release, things went further downhill, with critics tearing the Netflix Original apart - it currently holds a 0% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It looks like that old chestnut ‘any press is good press’ really is true, as The Ridiculous Six has racked up more views within 30 days of availability than any other film within the same time period, including both original films and licenced ones.

At the CES 2016 keynote, the streaming service’s CEO Reed Hastings said according to The Verge: "The Ridiculous Six, by way of example, in the first 30 days on Netflix it's been the most-watched movie in the history of Netflix.

“It’s also enjoyed a spot at number one in every territory we operate in, and in many of them it's still number one.”

So just how did the film, which currently holds a one-star rating on Netflix, become a record-breaking hit? A couple of reasons.

Many people, such as myself, decided to watch the first five minutes just to see if it really is that bad (it is).

Others have pointed out that Adam Sandler is still a popular actor across multiple generations in multiple countries.

Netflix has also gone on an all out advertising campaign, with some complaining there were weeks you couldn’t go on the Internet without seeing an advert for the film.

So, what have we learnt? That bad movies rake in viewers. That’s a fun thought…

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