One of Adam Sandler’s more under-the-radar movies is climbing streaming charts, showing how critical flops can succeed on such platforms and are often still deeply enjoyed by fans of the lead stars. Sandler is known for a variety of comedic roles, in movies including Grown Ups, Happy Gilmore, Just Go With It, 50 First Dates, and many more. However, he also certainly made his mark with the A24 crime thriller Uncut Gems and recently tried his hand at another drama with Netflix’s Spaceman.

Sandler has also frequently appeared on Saturday Night Live and done plenty of voice acting, starring in the H๏τel Transylvania series and Leo, the latter of which was one of the best animated movies of 2023. His sequel, Happy Gilmore 2, will also be released in July 2025. Adam Sandler’s best movies may not necessarily be the most critically acclaimed, as his brand is pure, very entertaining charm and goofy comedy. His critically panned 2015 movie becoming so popular on streaming is the perfect example of this.

Adam Sandler’s 2015 Movie Pixels Is At #5 On HBO Max Globally

Pixels Has A Terrible Rotten Tomatoes Score But Is Loved By Streaming Audiences

2015’s Pixels stars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage, depicting the efforts of humanity to fight back when aliens misinterpret snippets of classic arcade games (sent into space with other selections of Earth’s culture) as aggression, and launch an invasion while talking the form of various video game figures. A few of the world’s top gamers are recruited to lead the defense, including Sandler’s character as the protagonist. Pixels was a box office success but remains at a dismal 18% on Rotten Tomatoes.

However, Pixels is now the fifth most-watched movie worldwide on HBO Max, according to flixpatrol.com (as of June 22, 2025). Pixels’ current boost in popularity may have been spurred on by A Minecraft Movie being added to Max’s library, as a comparable video game adaptation. However, A Minecraft Movie has staggeringly better reviews and managed to succeed at the box office in a much more difficult time to do so. Pixels has historically been enjoyed on streaming in a “so bad it’s good” way (via movieweb.com).

Our Take On Pixels Being A Streaming Hit

If It’s On Streaming, Why Not Watch A “So Bad It’s Good” Movie?

Pixels is a lot of low-brow humor, some of which is in poor taste, and the biggest entertainment factor of the movie comes from the homages to classic arcade games, much like the many Easter eggs in Ready Player One. That is to say, it’s a pretty bad movie. But it has several comedy icons and a lot of exaggerated action and visuals and can be enjoyed with low expectations of actual quality. Once movies like Pixels are readily available on streaming, you can just have a good time no matter how terrible it is.

Source: flixpatrol.com, movieweb.com