CNY ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT – “Murder Mystery 2: Deux or Die,” the big-budget comedy sequel directed by American High founder Jeremy Garelick, is a big hit streaming on Netflix.
The humorous whodunit, starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, attracted more than 42 million views over its first three days of availability on Netflix. The movie had 64.42 million hours viewed since its March 31 debut and appeared in the top 10 in 91 countries.
It’s the second-biggest opening weekend on Netflix for a comedy film behind “Don’t Look Up,” the 2021 satire starring Leo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep.
Variety writer Andrew Wallenstein, the magazine’s chief media analyst, said “Murder Mystery 2” is by far “the highest-profile directing gig Jeremy Garelick has ever landed.”
But Wallenstein knows that the director’s heart remains with American High, the production company he founded six years ago after buying the old high-school building at 800 Fourth St., in Liverpool.
“Even this plum assignment from Netflix won’t keep him from running American High,” Wallenstein wrote. “Last month, Hulu renewed its first-look output deal with Garelick, who strives to avoid formulaic filmmaking.”
American High has cranked out eight movies for Hulu, including “The Binge,” “Plan B” and “Miguel Wants to Fight.”
The original “Murder Mystery” was Netflix’s most popular movie of 2019 with 30.8 million unique accounts watching its premiere.
Not too many years ago, we would judge a film’s viewership by simply citing its box office receipts. Now that 42 million views have been tallied at Netflix, let’s do some simple math: if 42 million moviegoers each purchased a theater ticket for $10 each, the gross income would be a massive $420 million.
Given that ticket prices routinely range higher than $10 each, and that streaming allows several persons to watch simultaneously, that $420 million is certainly a conservative estimate.
Any way you look at it, Jeremy Garelick can add a bona fide blockbuster to his growing résumé.
After the March 30 screening of the new movie here at American High, Garelick said that if he gets to direct future versions of “Murder Mystery,” he will propose that some of it be shot at Central NY locations, possibly including Liverpool.