Adam Sandler And Robert Smigel Are Making An Animated Musical About Heading Into Middle School
The Sandman is certainly keeping himself busy these days, and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down anytime soon. Adam Sandler starred in the basketball drama "Hustle" for Netflix earlier this summer, which came only a few months after announcing he was reuniting with The Safdie Brothers, the team behind his Oscar-snubbed performance in "Uncut Gems." Over the years, Sandler has proven he is more than capable of delivering serious, dramatic performances in films like "Punch Drunk Love," "The Meyerowitz Stories," and "Reign Over Me." But to a lot of folks, Sandler will forever be associated with slapstick comedies from the 1990s and groan-inducing films of the 2010s. Sandler is a bit of an enigma, but he's also someone who specifically works on projects because he wants to, not because he feels like it's expected of him.
In a recent live Q&A hosted by "Happy Sad Confused" podcast host Josh Horowitz following a screening of "Hustle" in New York City, Sandler sat down to talk about his career, share behind-the-scenes stories about some of his most memorable projects, and even revealed that one of the next projects is an animated musical directed by Robert Smigel. If the name doesn't sound familiar, you may remember Smigel for his work on "Saturday Night Live," "TV Funhouse," and most notably, as the voice and puppeteer behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
"He is directing a movie that we wrote together and we've been working on it for a long time, and actually, Paul Sado helped write that, and I think it comes out next November," Sandler said. "It's a musical about elementary school — graduating elementary school and getting ready to move into junior high and being scared of middle school and the nerves of that."
A new venture in animation
Adam Sandler and Robert Smigel have worked together on a slew of projects, like "Billy Madison," "Happy Gilmore," "The Wedding Singer," "Little Nicky," "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," and the "Hotel Transylvania" films, just to name a few. Meanwhile, co-writer Paul Sado has also worked extensively with Sandler, including recent projects like "Sandy Wexler," "The Cobbler," and "The Do-Over." Sado has been listed as the co-writer on an "Untitled Animated Adam Sandler Project" according to IMDb for an undisclosed amount of time, but it's safe to assume this middle-school project Sandler mentioned to Josh Horowitz is one and the same.
This animated musical will be Sandler's feature-length return to the medium, after the 2002 Hanukkah film, "Eight Crazy Nights." As of publication, there isn't much information available on the project, but if his previous venture is any indicator, this new "Untitled Animated Adam Sandler Project" will have stunning artistry. Sandler founded Meatball Animation Studios in order to bring "Eight Crazy Nights" to life, so there's a high likelihood he will also produce this film under the same banner. As for which animators he's bringing to the fold, there's no word on whether or not the project will look like the 2D animation of "Eight Crazy Nights," or the CG-animated world of "Hotel Transylvania." Sandler's return to animation is exciting, and we can only hope this time involves less poop-stained deer smiling.