‘Happy Gilmore’ is getting a sequel, Netflix announces
By Jack Bantock, CNN
(CNN) — Almost 30 years since booming his last slapshot drive, golf’s angriest champion is stomping back to the tee box.
A sequel to “Happy Gilmore” is in the works, Netflix announced in a post on X Wednesday, with Adam Sandler reprising his role as the comedy classic’s neurotic titular star.
Sandler co-wrote the 1996 film, which sees a failed ice hockey player make the turbulent – often violent – transition to golf phenom in order to save his grandmother’s house from foreclosure.
Standing in Gilmore’s way is arch-nemesis Shooter McGavin, played by Christopher McDonald, who in March teased that Sandler was working on a sequel script.
“It’s in the works. Fans demand it, dammit!” McDonald said during an interview on an episode of “Audacy’s 92.3 The Fan” radio show, adding that he was “very, very pleased” when he read a first draft Sandler showed him.
Julie Bowen, Frances Bay, and Kevin Nealon starred alongside the duo in the original, as well as Carl Weathers, who died aged 76 in February.
Weathers played Derick “Chubbs” Peterson, a retired pro who becomes Gilmore’s mentor, and was described by Sandler as “a true great man” in an Instagram post paying tribute to the football player turned actor.
“Great dad. Great actor. Great athlete,” Sandler, 57, wrote. “So much fun to be around … Carl will always be known as a true legend.”
Among Sandler’s most iconic roles, the slapstick comedy has proven to be a favorite of golf fans and professionals alike, inspiring countless recreations of Gilmore’s unorthodox technique – and even a real-life golfing namesake.
“The funny thing is that there are so many non-golfers who would know what the ‘Happy Gilmore swing’ is or they’ve watched the film,” Ladies European Tour winner Amy Boulden told CNN’s Living Golf in 2021.
“I think that’s great that it’s got so many people from outside of golf interested. They’ve watched the movie and then they’ll go to the driving range and just try to replicate that iconic golf swing.”
The-CNN-Wire
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