Hollywood Babble On & On #1183: Sandler's Netflix Deal

Comedian and SNL alum Adam Sandler has signed a four picture deal with Netflix.

Let's take a minute to look at the PROS & CONS of the deal.

PROS:

ADAM SANDLER'S TRACK RECORD: Take a look at Sandler's box office record and you'll see that he has had a lot of $100+ million pictures in his roster. Plus many of his films have dedicated followings when they rerun on cable, earning pretty good consistent numbers.

CONS:

ADAM SANDLER'S TRACK RECORD: While he has made a lot of hits, his stats show that he peaked at $170 million, but that is has been trending downwards for some time. Meanwhile, the costs of making Adam Sandler movies have crept upwards. 

That means that movies that used to be wide margin sure-things have devolved into risky gambles that even if they do click, the margin is so thin, it might as well not exist.

Yes, many of his movies do well on cable, but most of them are his OLD MOVIES, some dating back to the 1990s. Many don't have the same affection for his more recent efforts.

I don't see these new movies making people who don't already subscribe to Netflix to suddenly sign up.

ADAM SANDLER HIMSELF: When Sandler was at his peak he was what I call an "audience appealer." He knew his fans, knew what they wanted, and gave it to them until they choked on it.

But something happened.

Sandler got really lazy and his strategy went from trying to please his fans into doing whatever shit gives him an excuse to goof off while tossing high paying work to his friends. For a while it seemed to work, but creative laziness, rising costs, and shrinking profits is an unhealthy combination.

So I don't see this deal doing much for Netflix, or it having much of a positive effect on his bottom line.

That's what I think, what do you think?