A controversial romance movie with aGame of Thronesstar has become a streaming success. The show was a launching point for many of its cast members. One such talent was Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys Targaryen in the George R.R. Martin fantasy adaptation across all eight seasons. Clarke was 24 years old when she made her debut as part of theGame of Thronescastin 2011. Prior to the HBO series, her only roles had been a single episode of the TV seriesDoctors, the short filmDrop the Dog, and a part in the TV movieTriassic Attack.
Game of Throneswas life-changing for Clarke. She was nominated for four Emmys for the series, including three for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and one for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. After the conclusion ofGame of Thronesin 2019, Clarke has gone on to have roles in other projects includingLast Christmas,The Pod Generation, and Marvel Studios’Secret Invasion. Now,a movie Clarke was in during herGame of Thronestenure is finding streaming successnearly a decade later.
Me Before You Has Become A Streaming Success
Me Before You Was Controversial
Me Before Youhas found success on streaming. The 2016 romance film is based on the book by Jojo Moyes, who also penned the movie’s script. Clarke plays Lou Clark, a woman who falls in love with a man she is taking care of, who has recently been paralyzed. ThoughMe Before Youwas a box office success,the film was incredibly controversial in the disability community. The plot’s main premise centers around the male lead’s desire for assisted suicide, leading many to claim the film promoted negative messages about people with disabilities.
PerFlixPatrol,Me Before Youhas now become a streaming success. The film made it toPrime Video’s Top 10 movies in the United Statestoday (January 13), squeaking into the no. 10 slot. Whether it will stay there in the coming days remains to be seen, but it has drummed up significant viewership today. Other movies making the chart today includeThe Fall Guy,In the Land of Saints and Sinners,Tag,The Creator,The Equalizer 2,A Quiet Place: Day One,Red One,The Equalizer, andThe Beekeeper.
Our Take On Me Before You’s Streaming Success
Controversial Romance Movies Can Be Popular
In some ways,Me Before You’s successes have always had an inexplicable quality. Some called for the boycotting of the film at the time when it came out, saying that it perpetuated the harmful idea that being disabled made a life not worth living, due to its premise and the journey of its protagonist. Still,Me Before Youwas an incredible success at the box office. Made on an estimated budget of just $20 million,Me Before Youmade over $208 million worldwide. This showed that the romance movie could succeed in spite of poor reviews and controversy.
As a whole,Me Before You’s lifetime of success — in theaters and on streaming — speaks to the role of two ongoing industry concerns: the portrayal of disability on screen, and the role of controversy in making a movie succeed.
In this sense, it is unsurprising whyMe Before Youwould do well on streaming. It is hard to say what exactly is prompting more interest in the movie now, butits success does fall in line with recent trends in streaming overall.It Ends with Ushas also been doing well on streaming in recent months. It is also a romance movie that caused controversy during and after its release. Even thoughMe Before Youis an older example of this phenomenon, and has a different controversy at its core, it might pique the interest of romance genre lovers who want to get in on the discourse.
It Ends with Us' controversy stems from a feud between director Justin Baldoni and star Blake Lively, which has become a legal battle involving Lively’s claims of sexual harrassment from Baldoni.
As a whole,Me Before You’s lifetime of success — in theaters and on streaming — speaks to the role of two ongoing industry concerns: the portrayal of disability on screen, and the role of controversy in making a movie succeed. The portrayal of disability on screen has been a hot button issue in Hollywood over the last decade or so. While casting choices have been changing for the better at times,there are still too many cases wherein an able-bodied actor plays a person with a disability, or a problematic message about disability is being conveyed.
Still, movies likeMe Before Youhave been successful despite boycott attempts and backlash. When examined in conjunction with the success of 2024’sIt Ends with Us, there seems to be a lot of hand waving among romance genre viewers. That is, even when a book or film in the genre is declared by many to have a glaring problematic element, audiences seem willing to watch these movies anyway, or are perhapseven fueled further by the controversy itself.
Me Before You
Cast
Me Before You is a romantic drama directed by Thea Sharrock and based on the bestselling novel by Jojo Moyes. It follows the story of Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke), a quirky young woman who becomes a caregiver for Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a wealthy, paralyzed man. As they grow closer, their relationship transforms both of their lives, exploring themes of love, loss, and personal growth.
