Although it received a mixed reception from some and was the latest in a long line of review-bomb victims, Bridgerton Season 4 was undeniably popular. Regularly scoring a place at the top of the streaming charts, and even placing inside the top ten for 13 days this month, Bridgerton marked an impressive increase in viewership on its previous outing, with Season 4, Part 1 watched by 6.4 million households during the live plus three-day period. This was a 52% boost over Season 3’s premiere, and helped the show reach #1 in the streaming ranks of 83 different countries.
Key to the success of Season 4 was the simple yet ever-so-effective usage of a Cinderella love story for viewers to latch onto. As the blossoming romance between Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) took its many twists and turns, its comforting structure as a story oft-told made this a perfect easy watch for millions. But that doesn’t mean it’s the greatest Cinderella story ever told, with one of the very best suddenly reaching the streaming charts almost 30 years after it was first released.
The movie in question is Ever After, also called Ever After: A Cinderella Story in initial promotional material. A near-perfect fairy tale retelling that features some surprisingly feminist themes, the movie earned hugely positive reviews from critics, including a 91% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with most praising the script’s endearing twist on the original story and Drew Barrymore‘s excellent lead performance. The movie also boasts a menacing turn from Anjelica Huston as the evil stepmother and Dougray Scott as the prince. At the time of writing, Ever After is one of the ten most-streamed movies on the free streamer Tubi in the U.S.
Was ‘Ever After’ a Box Office Hit?
A huge hit with critics, with the movie even winning several prizes including two Saturn Awards, could Ever After turn that praise into box office success? Made for a reported $26 million, the movie returned just shy of $100 million at the box office, split between $66 million in domestic revenue and a further $22 million from overseas markets. In its opening weekend, Ever After finished 5th in the American box office ranks, falling short of big competition from the likes of There’s Something About Mary and Saving Private Ryan.
Ever After is a streaming hit on Tubi. Stay tuned to Collider for more streaming stories.
- Release Date
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July 31, 1998
- Runtime
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121 Minutes
- Director
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Andy Tennant
- Writers
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Susannah Grant, Andy Tennant, Rick Parks

