The Spookiest Family Is Trending On Streaming
The 2019 animated version of The Addams Family is currently ranked in the top-10 on Paramount+
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Created by American cartoonist Charles Addams, The Addams Family dates all the way back to 1938, when it was a series of unrelated single-panel cartoons that appeared in The New Yorker over a span of 50 years. Since the 1960s, the eccentric family has been featured in other forms of media including television shows and various motion pictures.
One of the most successful outings for the clan of weirdos is the 2019 animated feature The Addams Family, and it’s still thriving three years later as it’s currently one of the top 10 titles on Paramount+, according to FlixPatrol, a website dedicated to tracking the performance of content on various streaming platforms.
There have been dozens of iterations of The Addams Family since their inception in the 1930s, and apart from the 1991 picture of the same name, which featured Christina Ricci in one of her earliest roles, 2019’s The Addams Family is the most recognized. Directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, the animated flick stars the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Allison Janney. The script was written by Matt Lieberman based on a story by him, Erica Rivinoja, and Conrad Vernon.
2019’s The Addams Family is the first animated feature-length adaptation of Charles Addams’ series, but it’s the third animated adaptation following the 1973 and 1992 cartoon installments. In 2010, the film was planned to be entirely stop-motion animated, with Tim Burton attached to co-write, co-produce and possibly direct the movie. Unfortunately, the project was canceled in July 2013 with the studio opting to take an alternative route.
In terms of box office numbers, The Addams Family proved to be a monster success, grossing $100 million in the United States and Canada and an additional $103 million in other territories for a global total of $203 million. The film opened to $30.3 million and outgrossed both Gemini Man and Jexi, which debuted the same weekend. The animated feature finished second during its opening weekend behind holdover Joker.
Although traditional audiences seemed to enjoy the movie, critics were a bit harsher on The Addams Family. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film sits with an approval rating of 45% from critics based on 157 reviews. The movie holds an audience score of 69% from over 10,000 ratings. On Metacritic, the animated flick has an average score of 46 out of 100, based on reviews from 22 critics.
Despite quite a bit of negative critical reception, The Addams Family drummed up enough profit to warrant a sequel which was released on October 1st, 2021. Although the follow-up was released during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it still managed to gross close to $120 million around the world. Sadly, critical response was even worse for the sequel than its predecessor, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 28% from 112 reviews.
Looking ahead, there’s nothing in the way of motion pictures for the abnormal family, however, Netflix is developing a brand-new show based around the character Wednesday, with Jenny Ortega taking on the role that was previously portrayed by Christina Ricci in 1991’s The Addams Family and its 1993 sequel, Addams Family Values. The forthcoming Netflix original series is scheduled to premiere on November 23rd, 2022.
Wednesday is a prominent member of the Addams Family, and in the upcoming, self-titled series, we’ll see the character wrapped up in a mystery during her years as a student at Nevermore Academy. She’ll attempt to develop her emerging psychic ability, foil a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago. The show is described as a horror comedy with a lot of fantasy elements thrown in.
Wednesday will feature other members of the Addams Family including Morticia, Gomez, and Uncle Fester. In addition to Jenny Ortega, the series stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Fred Armisen, Luis Guzman, Jamie McShane, Emma Myers, and Christina Ricci, who has been cast in the role of Marilyn Thornhill. The show was created by Alfred Gough, and all eight episodes of the first season will be directed by Tim Burton.
While you wait to see Jenny Ortega’s fresh take Wednesday in Netflix’s upcoming series, you can catch the animated version of the character in the 2019 feature The Addams Family, which is currently streaming on Paramount+. Additionally, the 1991 movie starring Christina Ricci is also available to watch on the platform. Both films are entertaining, laugh-out-loud comedies the entire family can enjoy, and they’re guaranteed to get you in the Halloween spirit.
