Adam Sandler Most Popular Star on Netflix, Buries ‘Squid Game’ ‘Stranger Things’ ‘Wednesday’

Credit: A24

Adam Sandler has been one of the most popular actors and comedians in the world for decades now, but it’s still astounding that his newest film on Netflix utterly demolished records on the streaming platform, which has previously been dominated by Stranger Things, Wednesday, and Squid Game.
Credit: Netflix

Adam Sandler began his career in the late 1980s as a standup comedian and appeared in numerous sitcoms of the era, including The Cosby Show. He became a household name as part of the 1991 cast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, alongside Chris Farley, David Spade, and Phil Hartman. Sandler was a popular performer on the sketch show for years, but his film career soon eclipsed that portion of his life.

Beginning with Billy Madison (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996), and The Waterboy (1998), Adam Sandler quickly became one of the preeminent comedic leading men of the 1990s and formed Happy Madison Productions in 1999, turning him into a burgeoning mogul. Although his comedies were rarely critically acclaimed, they have cumulatively grossed over $2 billion worldwide. At the same time, Adam Sandler has developed an increasingly respected career in dramatic acting, appearing in lauded films like Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Uncut Gems (2019), and Hustle (2022).

Credit: Sony
In 2014, Adam Sandler partnered with Netflix for a comprehensive deal to release new films and comedy specials on the streaming platform. Although some, like The Ridiculous 6 (2015), The Do-Over (2016), Hubie Halloween (2020), were panned by critics, his more dramatic turn in The Meyerowitz Stories (2017) and the romcom Murder Mystery (2019) have been better received. More recently, he co-starred with his real-life daughters, Sadie Sandler and Sunny Sandler, in the well-reviewed coming-of-age film You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.

More importantly for Adam Sandler and Netflix, nearly all of his movies on the platform have been colossal hits, drawing in record-breaking numbers of viewers. The Ridiculous 6 drew in more viewers in 30 days than any other film of any kind on Netflix, while Murder Mystery demolished the opening weekend viewing numbers for Netflix films.

Adam Sandler does not seem interested in letting shows like Stranger Things and Wednesday completely dominate the viewing numbers of Netflix, particularly when those TV series seem to be dragging their feet when it comes to providing new episodes for viewers.
Credit: Netflix

In the meantime, Adam Sandler released Leo, an animated film featuring the actor as a lizard and the voices of Bill Burr, Jason Alexander, Cecily Strong, Rob Schneider, Nick Swardson, and others. The film was directed by Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, and David Wachtenheim. It immediately rose to become the most-viewed English language movie of the week (by far), racking up nearly double the viewing numbers of all released episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge (per Deadline).

Not only that, but Leo is now officially Netflix’s biggest debut for an animated film ever, earning Adam Sandler yet another streaming record. The film was written by Robert Smigel, Sandler, and Paul Sado, and is only Happy Madison’s second animated feature; this certainly hints that the production company may increasingly move in that direction.

Wednesday and Stranger Things both remain years away from bringing a new season to Netflix viewers, and even Squid Game: The Challenge can’t compete against Adam Sandler. Those shows had better hope he never becomes interested in starring in an episodic series.