- Netflix's new big-budget action movie, "6 Underground," has a "rotten" 43% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
- That might sound bad, but some of Netflix's other mediocre movies have become its biggest hits, such as "Bright" and "Murder Mystery."
- Netflix's content chief Ted Sarandos said in 2018, soon after "Bright" was released, that critics were "disconnected from the commercial prospects of a film."
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Netflix's latest big-budget movie, director Michael Bay's "6 Underground," is being trashed by critics. But if Netflix history is any indication, that doesn't mean the movie won't be a hit.
"6 Underground," which was released on Friday and stars Ryan Reynolds, has a "rotten" 43% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and had a hefty production budget of $150 million, making it one of Netflix's most expensive movies yet.
"'6 Underground' proves so uneven in its tone and unrelenting in its volume that it's hard to imagine a hole deep enough in which to bury its silliness," CNN's Brian Lowry wrote.
A traditional movie studio might be quaking in its boots this weekend, waiting for the box-office figures to roll in after such a terrible critical reception. But other Netflix movies have misfired with critics only to become some of the streamer's biggest success stories.
2017's "Bright," starring Will Smith, was made for $90 million and received an even worse Rotten Tomateos critic score of 28%. But Netflix is developing a sequel and 11 million watched the movie in the US during its first weekend, Nielsen estimated at the time.
"Critics are an important part of the artistic process, but are pretty disconnected from the commercial prospects of a film," Netflix's content chief Ted Sarandos said during an investor call in January 2018, soon after "Bright" was released.
Since "Bright" was released, Netflix has revealed some of its own viewership numbers. It counts a view if an account watches at least 70% of a movie.
Below are some of the other mediocre movies that Netflix has touted the performance of:
- "The Highwaymen," starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson, was watched by 40 million households in the first month. It has a 57% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
- "Tall Girl" was watched by 41 million households in its first month. It has a 44% critic score.
- Adam Sandler's "Murder Mystery" was watched by 73 million households in the first month. It has a 45% critic score. Netflix renewed a four-movie deal with Sandler worth millions of dollars in 2017.
- Netflix's biggest movie yet is "Bird Box," which it said was watched by 80 million households in the first month. It has a more respectable 63% critic score.
Not all of Netflix's hit movies have been loathed by critics. Sarandos said that Martin Scorsese's Oscar hopeful, "The Irishman," was viewed by 26.4 million households in its first week and is expected to reach 40 million after its first month. It has a 96% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
But Netflix's track record with critically reviled but successful movies indicates "6 Underground" could be another win for the streaming giant before the year's over.
