A lot of people might be shocked to discover that not only is the American Pie franchise still a thing that exists, but the most recent entry, Girls’ Rules, is the ninth installment in the series. Most folks associate the brand with the original trilogy that was massively popular at the turn of the millennium, as well as fourth outing American Reunion that arrived almost a decade later, which were embraced as generational comedy classics at the time and raked in almost $990 million at the box office.
Continuing to milk the concept for all that it was worth, a slew of direct to video follow-ups have been released on a regular basis since 2005 under the American Pie Presents banner, but you’d be forgiven for overlooking the existence of Band Camp, The Naked Mile, Beta House and The Book of Love. In fact, the only person to have starred in the first eight was Eugene Levy as Noah Levenstein, and even he isn’t involved with Girls’ Rules.
Proving that just about any movie is capable of cracking Netflix’s Top 10 most-watched list, though, the ninth American Pie is the third most popular title on the streaming service in the United States today, becoming the latest in a long line of surprising entries on the chart. And once again showing that he’ll sign up for absolutely anything, the only recognizable name in the cast of Girls’ Trip is Danny Trejo, who plays a high school janitor.
Based on the early popularity, it’s certainly looking like there’s every chance that the American Pie franchise will continue for a long time yet, which seems incredible to think given that the original was released 21 years ago and the cast who played high schoolers the first time around are all well into their 40s by now.