Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer’s superhero comedy Thunder Force may have only debuted on Netflix two weeks ago, but the platform’s Vice President of Film Kira Goldberg is already projecting that it’ll draw in 52 million views in its first four weeks, despite being largely panned by critics and roasted by more than a few subscribers.
While those numbers aren’t quite at a level to crack the all-time Top 10 most-watched list, they’re still more than enough to make it one of Netflix’s biggest original comedies ever behind Adam Sandler’s Murder Mystery and David Spade’s The Wrong Missy, as well as fellow newcomers Yes Day and I Care a Lot, although the latter is very much a blackly comic thriller rather than something designed entirely for laughs.
The movie’s Rotten Tomatoes score is sitting at a weak 25%, and it’s yet another misfire from director Ben Falcone. In fact, it’s the second collaboration between the filmmaker and his wife McCarthy that’s been savaged by reviewers in the last five months alone after HBO Max’s Superintelligence, and if his track record of delivering tedious and unfunny comedies continues for much longer, then he’s sure to face accusations that he’s holding her back if not dragging her down, given the actress’ status as a two-time Academy Award nominee and genuine box office draw.
Once again, though, it just goes to show that Netflix‘s almighty algorithm is a whole lot more powerful than the critical consensus, considering that over 50 million households took the plunge on Thunder Force, ignoring the fact that it hardly came with glowing recommendations. It’s still the third most-watched movie on the platform in the US after two weeks, too, which is a more than decent showing.
