Ben Stiller's Controversial Sci-Fi Comedy Enjoys Second Life On Streaming 13 Years After 16% RT Failure

A controversial Ben Stiller movie is now trending on streaming more than a decade after its original release. The actor, who is the son of comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, is also best known for his comedy performances, having broken out in There’s Something About Mary and Zoolander at the turn of the millennium, also directing the latter тιтle. He is also the lead of multiple comedy franchises with at least three installments apiece, including Meet the Parents, Madagascar, and Night at the Museum.

In more recent years, Ben Stiller has become better known as a director. Although he still periodically makes onscreen appearances in projects such as Locked Down, Bros, and Nutcrackers, he has achieved notoriety behind the camera for projects including the Showtime drama Escape at Dannemora, which earned him two Emmy nominations. He is also part of the producing and directing team behind the popular Apple TV+ sci-fi show Severance, which has earned him an additional pair of Emmy nominations. This push toward directing may have been prompted by starring in movies like his now-streaming 2012 failure.

It Was Poorly Received In 2012

2012’s The Watch, which features star Ben Stiller as one of a quartet of hapless men who create a neighborhood watch program only to uncover an alien invasion, is now trending on a major streaming platform. The movie was controversial because its release came shortly after Trayvon Martin was sH๏τ by a neighborhood watch member in February 2012, prompting a change to the movie’s original тιтle, Neighborhood Watch. However, it was also poorly received in general, having earned a dismal 16% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Watch, which was co-written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg with Jared Stern and directed by Akiva Schaffer, also starred Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade.

The Watch has now made an appearance on Hulu‘s daily chart of the most-watched movies on the streaming platform. At the time of writing, it is No. 14 on the chart, ranking ahead of the 2005 Jennifer Lopez comedy Monster-in-Law (No. 15) and behind movies including the Pixar тιтles Inside Out (No. 13), Up (No. 12), WALL-E (No. 6), The Incredibles (No. 5), Finding Nemo (No. 3), and Ratatouille (No. 1). If Pixar’s library тιтles had not experienced a mᴀss resurgence in recent days, The Watch could easily have already landed in the Top 10.

What This Means For The Watch

Its Fate Is Likely Still Sealed

Vince Vaughn Richard Ayoade And Ben Stiller look shocked In The Watch

Post-release success on streaming can sometimes reignite a franchise, as has recently happened when Suits spawned the spinoff Suits LA after breaking streaming records in 2023. However, the Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg movie would likely need a much bigger boost on streaming in order to spur talks of a sequel. In spite of the presence of Ben Stiller and other major stars, The Watch was a major box office bomb in 2012, only grossing $68.3 million against its $68 million budget.

Source: Hulu