With the COVID-19 outbreak resulting in millions remaining at home in self-quarantine, Netflix users have been searching for the next best streaming option. They have binged through Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, The Ranch and several other options, but one popular movie will soon be unavailable. Adam Sandler‘s 2005 remake of The Longest Yard will be taken off Netflix on April 19.
The football-themed comedy is one of many streaming options that will no longer be available as Netflix prepares for an influx of shows and films. It joins Big Fat Liar, The Ugly Truth, 21 & Over, Lost Girl, and National Treasure as April departures. These options will be replaced by several new additions, including Extraction, all four Lethal Weapon films, Just Friends and Taxi Driver. Netflix was the last free streaming option for The Longest Yard, but it is still available to rent on Amazon, YouTube and several other platforms.
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The film is set in a prison and focuses on a disgraced quarterback, played by Sandler, who must create a team of inmates to compete in a football game. Their foes are the prison guards, which are primarily professional wrestlers such as Goldberg and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. Former linebackers Bill Romanowski and Brian Bosworth also lend some NFL experience to the team.
The Longest Yard stars Sandler, Chris Rock, Nelly, Bill Goldberg and The Great Khali (Dalip Singh Rana). Burt Reynolds starred in the 1974 original and is also featured prominently in Sandler’s version, but he plays the coach of the inmate football team. Terry Crews, Tracey Morgan and James Cromwell are all frequently featured throughout the nearly two-hour runtime.
The Longest Yard hit theaters in 2005 to mixed reviews, with some applauding the humor while others were disappointed by the use of racial slurs. Roger Ebert initially gave the film a thumbs-up prior to heading to Cannes in 2005. However, he returned and wrote a three-star review, spending a considerable amount of time reflecting upon his initial assessment.
“I often practice a generic approach to film criticism, in which the starting point for a review is the question of what a movie sets out to achieve. The Longest Yard more or less achieves what most of the people attending it will expect,” Ebert wrote at the time. “Most of its audiences will be satisfied enough when they leave the theater, although few will feel compelled to rent it on video to share with their friends. So, yes, it’s a fair example of what it is.”
The critics may not have particularly enjoyed The Longest Yard when it was released, but the film was viewed as more of a success in financial terms. The film had an estimated budget of $82 million, but it earned more than $158 million gross in the United States. It topped $191 million worldwide.
