Adam Sandler's “Happy Gilmore 2” Was the Most Streamed Live-Action Movie of 2025, with “Wicked” a Close Second
- - Adam Sandler's “Happy Gilmore 2” Was the Most Streamed Live-Action Movie of 2025, with “Wicked” a Close Second
Tommy McArdleJanuary 29, 2026 at 3:05 AM
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Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2; Cynthia Erivo in Wicked
Scott Yamano/Netflix; Universal Studios
Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore 2 and Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande's first Wicked movie were the most-streamed live-action movies of 2025, per Nielsen
KPop Demon Hunters, meanwhile, was by far the most-streamed movie of last year
Bluey, Grey's Anatomy and Stranger Things were the three most-streamed television series in 2025
Adam Sandler, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande dominated televisions, laptops, tablets and phone screens in 2025.
On Wednesday, Jan. 28, the media analytics company Nielsen announced that Sandler's Netflix comedy Happy Gilmore 2 stood out as 2025's most-watched live-action movie on any streaming platform, with 7.1 billion minutes streamed in total. The first installment in director Jon M. Chu's two-part adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked clocked in at second place on the list, with 6.8 billion minutes streamed in total between the movie's runs on Peacock and Prime Video throughout last year.
According to Nielsen, Wicked was one of three movies to top more than 2 billion minutes viewed in total among women between ages 18 and 49. Sandler's sequel to the 1996 sports comedy classic Happy Gilmore also set a weekly viewing record for a streaming movie when it released in July, per the company. Netflix previously shared in July that Happy Gilmore 2 had the biggest U.S. opening weekend of all time for any movie released on its platform.
The rest of the top 10 streamed live-action movies of 2025 included Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz's Netflix movie Back in Action, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the holiday classic Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ben Affleck's 2025 movie The Accountant 2, Chris Pratt's 2025 Netflix movie The Electric State, the Aaron Taylor-Johnson superhero movie Kraven the Hunter and Tyler Perry's 2025 Netflix movie Madea's Destination Wedding.
Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2
Scott Yamano/Netflix
In terms of sheer popularity, none of those titles matched KPop Demon Hunters, which Nielsen reported received 20.6 billion total minutes streamed on Netflix following its release on the platform in June. Animated movies like Moana 2 (9.4 billion minutes streamed) and Despicable Me 4 (8.7 billion minutes streamed) also surpassed Happy Gilmore 2 and any other live-action movie available for streaming in 2025.
In television, the children's animated series Bluey was streamed more than 45.2 billion minutes in total in 2025 on Disney+, with Grey's Anatomy in the runner-up position with 40.9 billion total minutes streamed between Netflix and Hulu. Stranger Things was streamed 40 billion minutes in total on Netflix, by far the most among television series created for streaming platforms. Netflix's Squid Game and Wednesday, Paramount+'s Landman, Prime Video's Reacher, Netflix's Ginny & Georgia, Peacock's Love Island USA, Netflix's The Night Agent, Love Is Blind and Gabby's Dollhouse rounded out the top 10.
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Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba and Ariana Grande's Glinda arrive in the Emerald City in 'Wicked'
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
NCIS, SpongeBob SquarePants, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy, The Big Bang Theory, Law & Order: SVU and Criminal Minds comprised the rest of the top 10 for overall television series available on streaming platforms, per Nielsen.
Nielsen also named Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane its inaugural Streaming Icon of the Year in recognition of the popularity his series and television films retained on streaming platforms in 2025. According to Nielsen, his television series and films received over 60 billion minutes viewed across all streaming platforms last year.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
