close
close

Why ‘The Long Game’ Dethroned ‘Axel F’ on Netflix (Guest Column)

Why ‘The Long Game’ Dethroned ‘Axel F’ on Netflix (Guest Column)

There has been a lot of media commentary lately about an independent film called “The Long Game,” which has displaced “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” from its No. 1 spot on Netflix in the U.S. “The Long Game,” a feel-good drama of the time starring Jay Hernandez, Cheech Marin and Dennis Quaid, has also garnered attention by ranking as the sixth most popular movie on Nextflix worldwide.

In my opinion, none of the various headlines that were sparked by “The Long Game” really understood the data aspect that was driving what was happening with the film. They didn’t give credit where credit is due. The headline I would write would be “Small-Budget, PG, Period, Indie Film Starring Latinos as Heroes Outcasts $150 Million Hollywood Franchise.” Yes, it’s a bit of a stretch, but hopefully you get the point.

The real meaning that is missing in this David vs. Goliath story is that “The Long Game” has all the elements that Hollywood would normally run away from: a PG rating, a small budget, and a cast that is predominantly Latino… playing golf! No border crossings, no gang banging, no — none of the things we normally see Latinos do on the big screen. “The Long Game” is directed by Julio Quintana and is a film about Latinos who golf. Thank you, Netflix, for bringing this film, produced by Mucho Mas Media and Fifth Season, to your streaming service! This, on top of all the hit movies and TV shows with Latino leads now available on Netflix, confirms that you are making the industry aware of this massive demographic and its tremendous and continued growth.

To put it in perspective, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” starring Eddie Murphy, had about 30 times the budget of “The Long Game,” which dethroned “Axel F” just two days after it hit the Netflix carousel on July 13 (“Axel F” dropped on July 3). “Axel F” also had an R rating. There were lots of guns, car chases and explosions. Most of the black characters in the film were cops, lawyers and rich people who like to shop, which is a good thing. The Hispanic characters, on the other hand, were narcos with tattooed faces and automatic weapons shooting through Beverly Hills, as well as prostitutes, drug smugglers and cocaine dealers.

On the other hand, in “The Long Game,” American audiences saw themes of family unity, struggle, and Latinos overcoming horrible racist treatment and still winning the day. There were no giant explosions or senseless beatings, and there were no tired old stereotypes. I wouldn’t be surprised if the audience wasn’t just Latinos, but families of all kinds, people who love golf, and a broad older demographic who wanted a feel-good story where the planet doesn’t end with the traditional, painful 15 minutes of fiery explosions or a zombie apocalypse. What a novel concept.

Let’s rethink this: Latinos in the U.S. buy 29% of all movie tickets and account for about 27% of streaming subscribers. And in survey after survey, Latinos in the U.S. say they like to see themselves in a positive light, not as a tired old cliché. Maybe that’s why “The Long Game” hit No. 1 on Netflix.

One reality that most studio heads are well aware of is that if Latino audiences don’t show up for your wide-release film, you can’t open it in the old-fashioned theater. We’ve all seen the stories about the economic power of the Latino cohort (more on that below). Yet Latinos still account for about 3.6% of all leads in TV and film, and Latino creatives remain underindexed as directors and writers.

A real issue that many in the Latin American creative community struggle with is the concern that Hollywood knows that we buy tickets (often in the majority) to the films they keep releasing with old stereotypes. I’ve even heard executives say, “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” The success of “The Long Game” is a testament to the fact that it is indeed “broken.” When given the choice, as just happened with Netflix, we can see that Latin Americans do want to see themselves and their stories, especially when they’re well done and ambitious. There just needs to be more of them.

One example is global business consulting giant McKinsey & Co., which recently released a report finding that Hollywood could increase its revenues by as much as $18 billion a year by including Latinos in more authentic stories in front of and behind the camera. That should be music to shareholders’ ears at a time when media stocks have been slumping. Perhaps by investing in the one group that is experiencing significant growth and is also crossing over in talent and stories, media companies could stop focusing on mergers to boost their profits and instead look for the revenue growth that can come from this vastly underserved group.

In 2019, Steve Forbes declared: “American Latinos are the cavalry that will come to the rescue of the American economy. Last time I checked, Hollywood was part of that economy, too.”

Below are some data points to support this:

  • US Latinos have a GDP of $3.2 trillion.
  • If Latinos in the US were a country, they would be the fifth largest economy in the world.
  • US Latinos have a purchasing power of $3.4 billion.
  • Latinos make up 19.5% of the total US population and 26% of people aged 18 and under.
  • In 2022-2023, Latinos accounted for 71% of US population growth.
  • Global grosses of films featuring Latino Americans in above-the-line roles were more than 58% higher than those of films without them.

In short, Hollywood needs to look at these numbers and the success of “The Long Game.” Making meaningful, data-driven investments to reach the U.S. Latino cohort in English shouldn’t be a conversation about DE&I, but instead about profit and loss.

Jeff Valdez is a veteran writer, producer and director and a partner at New Cadence Productions. He is the creator and showrunner of the Nickelodeon comedy “The Brothers Garcia” and the HBO Max sequel series “The Garcias.” Valdez is also a serial entrepreneur who was the founder and CEO of Si TV, the first English-language cable channel targeted to Latinos (now operating as Fuse). He was named one of the top 50 marketers in the U.S. by Advertising Age and one of CNN’s Top 50 People Who Matter.

(Pictured: “The Long Game”)