Production on the Adam Sandler-led sequel Happy Gilmore 2 will begin soon, several decades after the release of the 1995 golfing comedy.
1995’s Happy Gilmore was one of the films upon which Adam Sandler built his movie stardom and decades later, he’s returning for a follow-up. News of the project first surfaced in March with the reveal that a script was being written. Then, in May we heard that Happy Gilmore 2 had gotten the go-ahead from Netflix.
Given how the change in leadership at Netflix’s film division has slowed down the progress of some other projects such as The Old Guard 2, Sandler’s return to the world of Happy Gilmore 2 seems to have suffered no such impediment as we’ve learned that the production will go before cameras in September.
Adam Sandler is of course returning as the title character, a well-meaning everyman with a slight anger problem. However, Dennis Dugan won’t be returning to the helm the sequel. Instead, it’s Kyle Newacheck who will direct Happy Gilmore 2. Netflix is certain to be happy with that combination given that the duo (along with Jennifer Aniston) collaborated on 2019’s Murder Mystery, one of the platform’s most watched films ever.
The original film marked one of the high points of Sandler’s original comedic style, becoming a classic rewatchable on home video and then DVD In the years since, Sandler has sometimes moved into more dramatic fare (as with the recent Spaceman) but his next planned film in that direction – a post-Uncut Gems collaboration with Josh Safdie – is seemingly on ice, for the moment at least.
Whether that’s because the film (which is aid to focus around sports memorabilia) needs to shoot around the baseball season or because Happy Gilmore 2 is now next on Sandler’s slate, who knows. But it is the latter that will be his next project to go before cameras.
More as we hear it.
