Movie lovers Suresh Joachim and Claudia Wavra today emerged as the winners of the Netflix Popcorn Bowl event after 123 hours and 10 minutes of continuous movie watching. Hosted by Netflix the world's largest online movie rental service, the grueling movie marathon began on October 2 at 12:00 p.m. ET and concluded today at 3:10 p.m. ET establishing a new Guinness World Record(R) for most consecutive hours spent watching movies.Held in a plexi-glass house in New York's Times Square, the event began with eight Netflix challengers and narrowed to two by the 72-hour mark. The participants began the journey with this summer's hit "Iron Man" (2008), and concluded with the contemporary classic "Thelma & Louise" (1991). In total, they watched 57 films,
including "The American President," "The Bourne Identity," "Chariots of Fire," "Kill Bill Vol. 2," "The English Patient," "Caddyshack" and many more. As a sign of support, Academy-Award(R) winning actor Susan Sarandon dropped off the final film and gave the weary participants words of encouragement in the final hours of the event."I have enjoyed watching so many wonderful American movies in the last five days," said Joachim, a 39-year-old Sri Lanka native who now lives in Toronto. "I currently hold 33 Guinness World Records and I am happy to be achieving more of my goals by adding the Netflix Popcorn Bowl to my accomplishments."
"Setting the new world record at the Netflix Popcorn Bowl event has been an unforgettable experience," said the 31-year-old Wavra of Petersberg, Germany. "This is the fourth time I am breaking this record, but doing it in New York City is especially important to me because I've always wanted to do something great here."
According to the contest's rules, each movie had to be viewed until the last credit rolled. The participants were closely monitored by judges and medical professionals who checked their vital signs on a regular basis to ensure they could safely endure the challenge. Under Guinness World Record rules, competitors could not divert their eyes from the screen, but were allowed 10-minute breaks between movies.
Stamina, determination, love of movies, team camaraderie and the chance to get in the Guinness World Records book kept the participants in the game. The challengers chatted during movies, high-fived at milestone moments and exercised together to keep awake. Exercise guru Richard Simmons visited on day two of the event to lead the group in calisthenics. Contestants who conceded returned to the arena to exhort their colleagues on.
