Netflix bosses have come to the defense of the critically derided action-fantasy film
Bright during the company's quarterly earnings review.
Top executives from the streaming service were asked about the critics' response to the original film starring Will Smith and Joel Egerton, which was Netflix's first real attempt at a blockbuster movie. Reviews for the movie
were overwhelmingly negative, with some outlets calling it the worst movie of 2017, yet Netflix call it a success and
even ordered a sequel.
“The consumer response to the film has been great,” said Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “Every internal measurement says it’s one of our most-watched pieces of original content — meaning TV show or film — that we’ve ever had. If you look at the [audience-generated] reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, you see positive experiences with that film. Critics are an important part of the artistic process but they’re pretty disconnected from the commercial prospects of a film. The way we look at it is [that] people are watching this movie and loving it and that is the measure of success. If critics get behind it or don’t, that’s a select group of social media influencers talking to a select audience.”
Bright went on to
rack up over 11 million views in the U.S. alone during its opening weekend, according to Nielsen, although Netflix says other companies that claim to measure their ratings are not accurate. Perhaps more to his point about critic disconnect is the movie's performance on Rotten Tomatoes where it sits at just 27% positive reviews from critics versus a whopping 86% positive reviews from readers - a similar performance to
Justice League and the complete opposite of
Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
CEO Reed Hastings expressed similar sentiment, using
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as an example that domestic critics aren't necessarily a good indicator of how a global audience responds.
“From an investors standpoint, you want to focus on things like … Jumanji, the critics are pretty disconnected from the mass appeal, especially remembering international at this point. Most of the reviews you read are in English and usually just the U.S." he said. To be fair, however,
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle may not be the best example as the film is actually certified fresh with 76% positive critic reviews.
Regardless, there's clearly a disconnect growing between critics and the general audience, and all that really matters to Netflix is keeping its subscribers and investors happy. Judging by Netflix's quarterly earnings, which beat estimates, it seems they are doing alright.