Netflix Loves Adam Sandler, Orders Four More Movies

When Netflix announced in 2014 that it had signed a deal with Adam Sandler under which Sandler would produce original movies exclusively for the platform, critics questioned the wisdom of the deal. But when the first of the deal's four movies hit the service last year, it was clear that Netflix had made a good decision. The Ridiculous 6 was a hit with Netflix subscribers, as was the deal's second movie.

So now, only halfway through the first deal, Netflix has announced a second deal with Sandler, whereby he'll make four more movies for Netflix. Critics remain baffled, but according to Netflix execs, they're giving their viewers what they want.

Netflix says that The Ridiculous 6 and the deal's second movie, The Do-Over, are the service's most-watched original films. Netflix doesn't release actual viewership numbers, so we don't know objectively how well they've performed compared to independently produced theatrical films on the service.  It's important to note that the Sandler films are by far the highest-profile original films that Netflix has produced, so it's not surprising that they're at the top of the viewership list when you look only at Netflix original movies.

The movies have, however, been savaged by critics, and viewers don't seem to like them much more.The Ridiculous 6 has a 0% rating from professional critics on Rotten Tomatoes, The Do-Over hits only 5%, and neither film has positive reviews from a majority of the site's users.

Netflix is an obviously good place for Sandler to be, though. He hasn't been having much success at the box office lately, and on Netflix, where skeptical viewers can watch his films without actually (directly) paying for them, he's more likey to draw viewers--at least for now.