Adam Sandler Explains Why Now Was Right Time to Revisit ‘Happy Gilmore’: “It Just Kind of Happened”
Adam Sandler’s latest Netflix project, the stand-up special Love You, hits the streamer next week, but fans of the comedian are eagerly awaiting a future Netflix title: Happy Gilmore 2.
Netflix confirmed in May that it had ordered a movie sequel to the 1996 film, after Sandler and co-star Christopher McDonald said in separate interviews that such a project was in the works.
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Now, making the rounds to promote Love You, Sandler is revealing more about what to expect from Happy Gilmore 2. On Tuesday’s Tonight Show, Sandler indicated that filming would begin in a couple of weeks in New Jersey, with real golfers and even a Travis Kelce cameo, after the Chiefs star and Sandler fan said he’d do “anything” to be in the film.
“It’s good,” Sandler said of the sequel. “We worked hard on the script. We didn’t want to let anybody down. People have been asking me for a long time, ‘Do Happy Gilmore 2.’ And I was always like ‘Nah, I’ll only let you down.’ … We’re really excited about it … We wrote our asses off. We’re continuing to try to make it a movie that I think you’ll like.”
As for Kelce, Sandler said, “We have a nice something for Travis,” adding that he had heard the Chiefs tight end “mention” he wanted to be part of the project.
“He’s gonna come by,” Sandler said of Kelce. “He’s a very nice guy. You guys would love him in real life. What a big, handsome guy. Funny and cool as hell. He’s a stud and he’s so funny.”
Since it’s been almost 30 years since the original film, Sandler said he needed to “practice” the “hop, skip and a hit” Happy Gilmore swing.
“I did it recently. It seems simple, so I tried it out. And I fell,” he said, laughing. “And I laid there for a while, and then somebody brought me a lemonade, and I just kind of laid down on the ground, drinking a lemonade for a while. But I’ll be ready. When it comes time to shoot, I’m a gamer, man.”
Sandler also told IndieWire that his Uncut Gems co-director Benny Safdie would have a “juicy” role in Happy Gilmore 2.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at Love You‘s New York screening, Sandler opened up about why this was the right time to revisit the original film, indicating that he and co-writer Herlihy found a way in.
“The idea that me and my buddy Tim Herlihy had and the more we talked about it and scene to scene worked on it, it built and we feel very strong about the movie itself,” Sandler told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re happy where it’s at and this is an exciting time for us. I don’t know how all of a sudden our brains said, ‘Let’s do that.’ It just kind of happened.”
In 2015, Happy Gilmore director Dennis Dugan suggested to THR that a sequel seemed unlikely.
“I can’t imagine he’d ever do that, but it’s Hollywood, so you never say that’ll never happen,” Dugan said at the time.
Sandler is continuing his collaboration with the Safdie brothers with Love You, which Josh Safdie directed in his comedy special directorial debut.
As for why Sandler wanted to enlist Josh Safdie in his first time helming such a project, he suggested the filmmaker was a natural fit.
“He loves comedy. He comes to my shows a lot. We’re very close,” Sandler told THR. “He’s kind of a genius, so why not work with a stud? We had fun making it, and he put his stamp on it and did stuff that I would never think of, and I’m excited we did it together.”
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