Adam Sandler to reprise Happy Gilmore role as Netflix announces sequel

Beloved 1996 sports comedy is one of actor’s most popular films

Netflix has announced that a sequel to the classic golf comedy Happy Gilmore is in the works, with Adam Sandler returning to the titular role.

The 1996 sports comedy follows Happy Gilmore, an ice hockey player with anger management issues who realises he can channel that anger towards major pro golf wins. He faces off against an arrogant opponent named Shooter McGavin, played by Christopher McDonald.

The film, written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy and directed by Dennis Dugan, also features Julie Bowen, Bob Barker and Carl Weathers in supporting roles.

Netflix announced the sequel to advertisers at a presentation in New York on Wednesday.

The first Happy Gilmore film grossed $41m worldwide on a production budget of $12m, and remains one of Sandler’s most popular films.

Rumours of the sequel first surfaced in March when McDonald said Sandler had written and shown him a draft for the sequel.

“I saw Adam about two weeks ago, and he says to me, ‘McDonald, you’re gonna love this,’” McDonald said in a radio interview on Audacy’s 92.3 The Fan.

“I said, ‘What?’ He says, ‘How about that’, and he shows me the first draft of Happy Gilmore 2 … I thought, ‘Well, that would be awesome.’ So, it’s in the works. Fans demand it, dammit!”

A month later, Drew Barrymore said on her talk show that she had “breaking news”.

“I’ll just say this, from my source, that [Happy Gilmore 2] is in process.”

Sandler has suggested on multiple occasions in the past that he’d be interested in returning as Happy Gilmore.

In 2022, he said on the Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast that he had an idea about involving a senior golf tour.

"Wouldn’t that be fun to do the senior tour of Happy Gilmore, and hang out with all those guys and try to write a great script about Happy as an older guy, and having to calm down his temper and all that stuff? But, I never know. Maybe one day, something like that," Sandler said.

Adam Sandler Gives An Update About The Happy Gilmore Sequel

On The Dan Patrick Show last month, Sandler alluded to something that was a little more than just a “fun” thing to do, saying: “Dude, we’ve been talking about a Happy 2 and we’re working on some stuff…But don’t tell anybody.”

There’s no information yet on which of the film’s other stars, if any, will be returning for the sequel, who will direct it or when it will be released.