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NEED TO KNOW
- People stopped Adam Sandler in the street to ask for a Happy Gilmore sequel for “28 years,” and his answer was always “no”
- Then “all of the sudden,” Sandler changed his mind to “maybe”
- Happy Gilmore 2 will be released on Netflix on July 25
For almost three decades, Adam Sandler rejected the idea of a Happy Gilmore sequel — but fans never stopped asking for one.
On Monday, July 21, the actor-comedian, 58, revealed on Good Morning America that since the comedy classic released in 1996, fans have begged him for another chapter in the titular golfer’s story — and at some point, he started to agree with them.
When GMA co-anchor Michael Strahan asked Sandler why he decided to bring the beloved character out of retirement, the actor said, “When I walk down the street a lotta times people will say, ‘You ever gonna do Happy Gilmore 2?’ And for 28 years, I was like, ‘What are you talking about? No.’ ”
“And then all of a sudden,” he said, “I was like, ‘Maybe.’ ”
AJ Pics / Alamy
As for where Happy is now, where upcoming sequel Happy Gilmore 2 starts off, Sandler said his “life isn’t perfect right now” — at least “at the beginning of the movie.”
“And he’s a family man, and he’s gettin’ back into the golf game,” Sandler teased of the quotable character.
The sequel cast is stacked, with Ben Stiller, Christopher McDonald and Julie Bowen reprising their roles alongside newcomers like Travis Kelce, Bad Bunny and a whole lot of pro golfers. When asked how this star-studded group was assembled, the comedy legend told Strahan, “I don’t know how it happened.”
“We wrote ‘em stuff [and] everybody was kind enough to come,” the actor said. “And everybody in it did a great job.”
“Every day” on set, he added, “someone cool would show up and we’d hang out.”
Earlier this year, McDonald — who reprises his role as Happy’s nemesis Shooter McGavin in the upcoming sequel — told PEOPLE that Sandler and Netflix have “outdone themselves” with the movie.
“What I love about Adam Sandler is his heart. He’s got so much love for people … And he’s done some amazing work in the last few years. So I’m very happy for him,” the 70-year-old actor told PEOPLE in May.
Courtesy of Netflix
As for plot details, McDonald said, his lips are sealed: “I signed an NDA. This is kind of a big deal,” he said at the time.
Sandler has, however, teased a bit about the sequel — even before his recent GMA appearance. Last year, Sandler appeared on Happy Gilmore 2 costar Kelce’s podcast New Heights, where he revealed that his character is now “a bit of a mess.”
“The movie itself picks up from an older guy who played golf a long time,” he said on the podcast. “Some stuff goes on in his life, and he’s different — he’s a bit of a mess. And then we try to get his life cooking again.”
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Happy Gilmore 2 will be released on Netflix on July 25.
