‘Office Romance’ Is Already Netflix’s Most-Watched Title Worldwide After a Stunning Opening Weekend
Jennifer Lopez has had a complicated relationship with Netflix over the years, but it looks like the streamer may have finally found the right vehicle for her. The global platform has been home to some of Lopez’s biggest streaming numbers alongside a few misfires, and her latest project seems to be landing squarely in the win column, at least with audiences.
‘Office Romance’ centers on Jackie Cruz, the President and CEO of airline company Air Cruz, who runs her business with a strict anti-fraternization policy for all employees. That ironclad rule gets thoroughly tested when a new lawyer named Daniel Blanchflower, played by Brett Goldstein, enters her orbit. The film is directed by Ol Parker and features a deep supporting cast that includes Betty Gilpin, Amy Sedaris, Tony Hale, Bradley Whitford, and Edward James Olmos.
The project has a charming origin story that speaks to just how deliberately it was built around Lopez. Writers Brett Goldstein and Joe Kelly first started spitballing the idea during a train ride from Manchester to London, where they began discussing their love of classic romantic comedies. When the question of a dream collaborator came up, both immediately said J.Lo without hesitation. Goldstein and Kelly then penned the script specifically for Lopez, and the film also reteams her with Edward James Olmos, who originally played her father in the 1997 film ‘Selena’ and returns to do so again here.
The numbers that came in after the film’s debut confirmed that audiences felt the pull of the project just as strongly. As reported by Collider, ‘Office Romance’ climbed to the top of Netflix’s global charts just days after arriving on the platform, pulling in an impressive 20.9 million views in its first three days and overtaking animated title ‘Swapped’ to become the streamer’s most-watched title worldwide. A full first-week breakdown from What’s on Netflix confirms those figures, with the film clocking 40.1 million hours watched across that opening period and topping the charts for the entire week of June 1 through June 7. Viewership for the film soared past ‘Creed III,’ which came in second with 7.9 million views, making the gap between first and second place particularly striking.
Director Ol Parker, who previously helmed ‘Ticket to Paradise,’ has described the film as escapism done right, noting that the lightness of romantic comedies is part of their joy rather than a limitation. Parker has also spoken glowingly about the pairing at the center of the film, saying that watching Goldstein and Lopez together on camera delivers the kind of undeniable chemistry that a rom-com lives or dies by, adding that legendary screenwriter Richard Curtis once told him that even the best script means nothing if audiences don’t want to see the leads kiss.
Critical reception has been more measured, with the film sitting at a 50% critics score and a 57% audience score, suggesting that while viewers are turning out in massive numbers, the film has not quite unified reviewers behind it. Lopez herself has framed the film as something a little different from her previous romantic comedies, describing it as a classic rom-com with unexpected jokes and a tone that skews less wholesome than her earlier work in the genre.
Whatever the critics say, the audience has spoken loudly, and Netflix has a genuine summer crowd-pleaser on its hands. Whether you are already aboard the ‘Office Romance’ hype train or still deciding if a workplace rom-com is worth your evening, feel free to share what you think about Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein as an onscreen pairing in the comments below.
