Although Netflix is currently recognized as the leading force in streaming, the company initially made its mark with a different movie-related venture: a DVD mail subscription service. Most Netflix subscribers are unaware that the company still ships DVDs, even though over 1 million people were still using the service until very recently.
Nonetheless, this didn't stop Netflix from pulling the plug on its DVD rental division. The streaming giant has chosen to focus on streaming and divest the clearly obsolete offering that allowed people to rent DVDs by mail. As part of the announcement, the company disclosed statistics on which movie had been ordered the most through its DVD subscription service.
Unlikely Choice
It's not surprising that the top movie on the list would boast a few Oscars, given that the Oscars remain the premier platform for promoting films to the general public. However, fans were taken aback to see the 2009 sports drama The Blind Side, which earned Sandra Bullock her first Oscar, emerge as the most rented DVD on Netflix.
The iconic sports drama was considered a solid feel-good story until August. That's when former NFL star Michael Oher lodged a lawsuit against the Tuohy family, accusing them of exploiting his story for financial gain without genuine concern for him.
Needless to say, a massive controversy erupted, as the Tuohy family had been depicted as the real heroes of the movie, a portrayal that has now been shown to have been entirely false. Following the revelation, fans flooded the movie with negative reviews, accusing everyone from the producers to Bullock herself of altering Oher's story for their own financial gain.
Runner-ups
The Blind Side may have fallen from grace, but it has succeeded in generating the highest number of DVD rental sales for Netflix, beating out a number of other iconic Oscar-winning titles.
The other films in Netflix's top-five DVD rentals are Crash, The Hurt Locker, The Departed, and The Bucket List. It's easy to understand why, seeing how all of these films became cult favorites the moment they were re-released.