Britney Spears’ Critically Panned 2003 Movie Climbs Into Netflix’s Global Chart

Crossroads has become a global streaming hit. The 2002 coming-of-age dramedy starred Britney Spears opposite a star-studded ensemble cast that included Zoe Saldaña, Taryn Manning, Anson Mount, Kim Cattrall, and Dan Aykroyd. It was not well-received critically and at the time of writing holds a 15% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a similarly rotten 40% score from audiences.

Netflix has now calculated their global chart of the Top 10 most-watched English-language movies for the week of February 19 through February 25. Britney Spears’ Crossroads has landed at No. 10 on the chart thanks to 3.7 million viewers streaming the movie for a total of 5.5 million hours. The rest of the list includes recent Netflix original hits such as Orion and the Dark and Tyler Perry’s Mea Culpa.

The Crossroads Renaissance Explained

Despite its poor reviews, Crossroads was a commercial success during its 2002 release. It made $61.1 million against its budget, which is estimated somewhere between $10 and $12 million, meaning it made a substantial profit. It was the 73rd highest-grossing movie of the year, as it was still outperformed by blockbusters including the horror hit 28 Days Later ($82.7 million), the Silence of the Lambs prequel Red Dragon ($209.1 million), and the trilogy-connecting The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ($936.7 million).

The Crossroads soundtrack was also a success, helping launch the Britney Spears single “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” to No. 21 on the Billboard Top 40 chart. However, the movie’s newfound popularity online likely comes from another source altogether. Spears recently released her memoir The Woman in Me, the title of which is a reference to the aforementioned single, in which she spends some time detailing the making of the movie and her challenges with the acting process.

Related

Why Britney Spears Never Made Another Movie After Crossroads

Britney Spears made her official film debut as Lucy in the 2002 coming-of-age movie Crossroads, but she hasn’t starred in another movie since.

To tie in with the release of Spears’ memoir, Crossroads was also re-released into theaters in 2023. The hubbub around Spears’ raw, confessional book is likely what has spurred this resurgence in interest in the movie after so many years. Netflix’s acquisition of the title was especially well-timed to take advantage of the movie’s newfound status in the public eye, which likely helped boost its prominence in spite of the fact that it has long been considered a cult classic.

Click here to watch Crossroads on Netflix

Source: Netflix

Crossroads (2002)

Crossroads is a comedy-drama film by director Tamra Davis that was released in 2002. Three close friends, Lucy, Kit, and Mimi, bury a box, promising to revisit it on their graduation night, but as time passes, the trio grows distant. Deciding to honor their hopes and wishes and looking to reconnect, the girls embark on a road trip to do the things they always wanted to do – together.

Director

Tamra Davis

Release Date

February 15, 2002

Studio(s)

MTV Films , Zomba Films

Distributor(s)

Paramount Pictures

Writers

Shonda Rhimes

Runtime

99 Minutes

Budget

$10-12 Million