Netflix Survey Shows Enduring Popularity of James Dean on 50th Anniversary of His Death

Netflix Survey Shows Enduring Popularity of James Dean on 50th Anniversary of His Death

LOS GATOS, Calif., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fifty years to the day after the death of actor James Dean at the age of 24, America's fascination with the screen icon continues unabated. Commemorating the anniversary of his death, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, polled its subscribers to find out more about consumers' attitudes about Dean today.

Netflix subscribers replied over the past week to a series of multiple-choice questions about Dean. The results are as follows:

Which is your favorite James Dean film?

-- Rebel Without a Cause 57%
-- Giant 25%
-- East of Eden 18%

Why does James Dean have such a big place in popular culture?

-- His untimely death 31.1%
-- His youthful rebellion 29.2%
-- His mystique 24.2%
-- His looks 16.4%

If alive today, what role from the past 10 years would James Dean have been best suited to play?

-- Brad Pitt's role in Fight Club 60%
-- Leonardo DiCaprio's role in Titanic 18%
-- Ed Norton's role in American History X 15%
-- Russell Crowe's role in Gladiator 8%

What actor should play James Dean in the next feature film about his life?

-- Leonardo DiCaprio 34%
-- Ryan Phillippe 28%
-- Heath Ledger 21%
-- Jake Gyllenhaal 18%

James Dean represents a brand of rebellious youth that is emulated to this day. Dean's magnetic on-screen presence and unexplored potential catapulted him to icon status in American popular culture. Although he starred in only three major Hollywood films, Dean embodied the image of "cool" for the era. Dean titles available at Netflix include East of Eden (1955), Giant (1956) and Rebel Without a Cause (1955).

About Netflix

Netflix is the world's largest online movie rental service, providing more than three million subscribers access to over 50,000 DVD titles. Under the company's most popular program, for $17.99 a month, Netflix subscribers rent as many DVDs as they want and keep them as long as they want, with three movies out at a time. There are no due dates, no late fees and no shipping fees. DVDs are delivered for free by the USPS from regional shipping centers located throughout the United States. Netflix can reach more than 90 percent of its subscribers with generally one business-day delivery. Netflix offers personalized movie recommendations to its members and has more than 500 million movie ratings. Netflix also allows members to share and recommend movies to one another through its Friends(TM) feature. For more information, visit www.netflix.com.

Source: Netflix, Inc.

CONTACT: Fenot Tekle of Netflix, Inc., +1-408-317-3787, or
ftekle@netflix.com; or Hayley Scheck of BWR Public Relations, +1-310-248-6163,
or swilson@bwr-la.com, for Netflix, Inc.

Web site: http://www.netflix.com/

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