Jennifer Lopez's 2022 R-Rated Action Comedy Is Taking Prime Video By Storm

Netflix is facing competition from Prime Video and I don't just mean in terms of subscriber numbers. The former remains the undisputed winner of the streaming wars, with more than 300 million subscribers, despite the company's insistence on endless price hikes. Seriously, Netflix has become way too expensive for a service that still hasn't apologized for Kevin Hart's "Lift." Prime Video is the closest to challenging Netflix's reign, with 200 million subscribers of its own, but even then it's got a long way to go before it catches its competitor.

Now, it seems Jeff Bezos' streaming platform is challenging Netflix in another way: with instantly forgettable streaming movies. If you're still in doubt as to what such a thing is, 2025 should have already clarified things for you with films like Cameron Diaz's "Back in Action," which dominated the Netflix charts in January despite being horribly reviewed. It's not that all these films are bad. In fact, some might even be mildly entertaining. Instead, it's that even before watching, you somehow know you'll have close to no recollection of the movie after the end credits roll. It's a talent of a sort, to pump out films that slide easily in and out of our consciousness without leaving any sort of lasting impression, and one that Prime Video is getting pretty good at.

Take "Shotgun Wedding" for example. This 44-percenter on Rotten Tomatoes originally hit Prime Video back in January 2023, and somehow proved to be a decent hit for Amazon's streaming service, helping the platform to its largest monthly usage increase according to Nielsen. Then, "Shotgun Wedding" disappeared beneath the inexorable tide of "content," never to be seen again, or remembered by anyone. That is, until it started climbing the Prime Video charts again two years later.

What is "Shotgun Wedding?" It's a romantic action comedy with Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel, who star as a couple gearing up for their destination wedding only to have their guests taken captive by pirates. I guess? Jennifer Coolidge co-stars and Lenny Kravitz is in it, too. For whatever reason, "Shotgun Wedding" — which /Film reviewed as a movie with a novel setup and mediocre execution — is renewing its nuptials with the Prime Video crowd, re-emerging from the margins of streaming history to reclaim a spot on the most-watched film charts.

According to FlixPatrol, a site that tracks viewing numbers across streaming platforms, "Shotgun Wedding" returned to the Prime Video film charts in the U.S. on February 1, 2025, hitting number four. It then remained there for three whole days before dropping to number six on February 4, then hitting seventh place the day after. At the time of writing the film has managed to retake the sixth spot, and it also briefly charted in Haiti on February 4. It's all just a bit confusing really.

Why have Prime Video viewers unearthed "Shotgun Wedding?" It might be as simple as the company guessing that everyone forgot it existed and promoting it as something new in the top spot home screen. Perhaps people really did love this movie and are revisiting it ahead of Valentine's Day. Or maybe Prime Video was counting on people remembering the film and offered it up as a romantic Valentine's option as if to say, "Hey, remember this thing we churned out? It wasn't that bad, right? C'mon, at least it's not Kevin Hart's 'Lift'." Whatever the case, Netflix should probably crank up the juice on whatever algorithm is pumping out stuff like "Back in Action," lest they see their closest rival better them at this whole streaming movie game.