Happy Gilmore is back on top. Adam Sandler’s long-gestating sequel “Happy Gilmore 2” teed off with big viewership numbers, ranking at No. 1 on the Netflix list of top 10 English-language movies.
“Happy Gilmore 2” launched on the streamer on July 25. For the week of July 21 through 27, the film generated 46.7 million views over three days, with views defined as total hours watched divided by the total runtime. That makes this start the biggest U.S. opening weekend of all time for a Netflix film, as well as the best ever for one of Sandler’s movies. He has starred in nearly a dozen original movies for Netflix, including “Murder Mystery,” “Hubie Halloween” and “The Week Of.”
The sequel’s release boosted interest in the original “Happy Gilmore,” which is also available on Netflix. The decades-old comedy ranked at No. 3 on the global top 10 list with 11.4 million views, marking its second consecutive week on the list.
“Happy Gilmore 2” arrived nearly 30 years after the 1996 film, which generated $40 million at the box office and helped to cement Sandler as one of the biggest comedy stars of his generation. The original followed the titular Happy Gilmore, a would-be hockey player with anger management issues who becomes a golf phenom thanks to his unusual antics. He joins a golf tournament to win money to stop the foreclosure of his grandmother’s house.
In the sequel, Happy Gilmore retires from the sport and turns to alcohol after a horrific incident on the green. He’s inspired to pick up his golf clubs again to finance his daughter’s exorbitantly expensive ballet school in Paris. Christopher McDonald also reprises his role as maniacal pro-golfer Shooter McGavin, while Benny Safdie, Bad Bunny, Travis Kelce and Sandler’s real-life wife and kids — Jackie, Sunny and Sadie — joined the cast. Cameos abound, including appearances from PGA champions Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, “Hot Ones” host Sean Evans and Food Network star Guy Fieri.
“Happy Gilmore” earned a 70% average on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, which is basically a rave in Sandler’s canon. (“Billy Madison” sits at 42%, “Big Daddy” at 39% and “Little Nicky” at 22%). In Variety’s review, chief film critic Owen Gleiberman referred to “Happy Gilmore 2” as “a happy orgy of raucous fan-service nostalgia.”
Elsewhere on the top 10 movies list, “KPop Demon Hunters” landed in second place with 26.3 million views in its sixth week. The action-musical now ranks as the most popular Netflix animated film of all time.
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On the television front, “Untamed” remained in first place on the English language series chart for the second consecutive week. The murder mystery, set at Yosemite National Park, drew 26.1 million views for the week, up from the 24.6 million views in its debut. The show, starring Eric Bana, was recently renewed for a second season.
Meanwhile the third season of “Squid Game” remained the No. 1 non-English language show for the fifth straight week, racking up an additional 4.6 million views.
From Variety US