One of Adam Sandler’s most successful movies debuts on not one, but two separate streaming services today. As of Monday, Sept. 20, fans of the legendary comedian and actor can catch 2010 comedy flick Grown Ups on both Netflix and Disney-owned Hulu today.
Grown Ups might not have the enduring fame of Sandler-starring classics like Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, but it actually stands as the highest-grossing movie he’s ever made. When it debuted in theaters 11 years ago, Grown Ups brought in $271.4 million for Sony Pictures on the back of an $80 million budget.
The reason for its success likely has a lot to do with its loaded cast of A-list comic talent. Sandler is joined by Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider as a group of childhood friends who reunite for a 4th of July weekend following the death of their high school coach. Salma Hayek, Mario Bello, and Maya Rudolph also feature as the guys’ much-suffering wives.
While audiences loved it, critics weren’t all that kind, with Grown Ups sitting at just 11% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the studio couldn’t pass up the opportunity to reunite the cast for a sequel, with Grown Ups 2 landing in 2013. That pretty much matched the earnings of the original, bringing in $247 million at the box office, but it fared even worse in the review department, gaining nine Razzie nominations and an 8% critics score on RT.
But Sandler’s movies are perfect late-night streaming fare, so expect Grown Ups to be a massive hit for these two platforms over the next couple of weeks. Adam Sandler will soon return to Netflix for sports drama Hustle, co-starring Queen Latifah and Ben Foster, which is likely to arrive sometime in 2022.
