The forgotten romantic comedy storming the Netflix charts: ‘What Happens in Vegas’
If you’re someone who likes to keep up with Netflix trends, you must have already noticed a fish out of water in this week’s most popular movies chart. But for those who have skipped out, the surprise leap has been made by none other than the forgotten romantic comedy, What Happens in Vegas, starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher.
In the week dated March 23rd to March 29th, What Happens in Vegas amassed 3.2million views, ranking seventh on the most popular movies chart. As the only rom-com to appear on this week’s global charts, it’s currently maintaining a streak as a top ten title in 55 countries.
Although the rom-com already boasts a cult following, its resurgence could actually be influenced by more than one factor.
For one, What Happens in Vegas serves as the perfect comfort binge, offering just the dose of entertainment to the audience segment actively returning to 2000s classics. There’s no doubt that the film is an easy watch that viewers usually seek at the end of a tiring day, but what adds to its appeal is familiarity and nostalgia.
Similarly, what also comes into play is that the 2008 film was recently added to Netflix in several regions, and it’s the thing with Netflix that whenever popular titles hit the platform, it almost always sees a spike in the algorithm, boosting its visibility not only to existing fans but also to a new audience.
While many rom-coms have come and gone, What Happens in Vegas is best known for setting a benchmark in the genre because ask whoever you may, everybody knows it by heart: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”
Directed by Tom Vaughn and packed with a stellar cast, the romantic comedy follows Joy, a broker who just got dumped by her fiancé and Jack, a carpenter who just got fired by his father. Separated by distance and practical reality but united by bad decisions, they both decide to fly to Vegas to ease things off their mind.
Historically speaking, from a showbiz point of view, Vegas can always go wrong. And so, it does when a hotel computer error ends up with the pair in the same room, and somehow, wedded to each other by the next morning. While that’s just the plot twists for starters, we would spare the more explosive ones for the newcomers.
As for those who’re yet to get caught up with the trend, What Happens in Vegas is currently streaming on Netflix.