It’s been seven whole days since Netflix released an original movie featuring plenty of famous faces that took a pasting from critics but still debuted as one of the most-watched titles on the global charts, so we were about due. Right on cue, then, Pain Hustlers has made its mark.
Per FlixPatrol, the pharmaceutical crime drama directed by Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts veteran David Yates that boasts Chris Evans and Emily Blunt in the two lead roles has landed as the second top-viewed feature on the worldwide watch-list after selling its soul for a spot on the Top 10 in 92 countries.
However, that wasn’t enough to dislodge massively popular erotic thriller Burning Betrayal from the summit, showcasing that not even A-list superstars and multi-billion dollar filmmakers are enough to unseat cinematic titillation from the top of the Netflix totem pole.
The woeful reviews may not have helped, in fairness, seeing as Yates’ first film in a quarter of a century that cost less than $180 million to produce is carrying a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of just 22 percent. Then again, being widely-panned hasn’t stopped countless other in-house exclusives from making it all the way to number one.
Even when you’ve got a Harry Potter expert, Captain America himself, and Dwayne Johnson’s newest BFF joining forces backed by the might of the market-leading streaming service, Netflix users have once more made it abundantly clear that they favor salacious stories over star power any day of the week, with Burning Betrayal handily holding off the competition.