Is Happy Gilmore 2 Happening, Or Will Hockey's Greatest Golfer Stay Retired?
Adam Sandler did not strike anyone as a movie star in the early 1990s.
He was a glorious goofball on "Saturday Night Live," and found recording success thanks to his relentlessly juvenile comedy LP "They're All Gonna Laugh at You," but he didn't have a breakout character that logically translated to a feature film. He was an ensemble player, and awfully good at it in movies like "Shakes the Clown," "Coneheads" and "Airheads." A career as a comedic lead, however, seemed well out of reach.
Moviegoers took some convincing on this front. Sandler's first star vehicle, "Billy Madison," was a hit relative to its budget (making $26.4 million on a $10 million budget), but critics generally hated it. Roger Ebert claimed the "SNL" alum was "not an attractive screen presence." The film had a slapdash quality that appealed to college kids, but, one year after "Pulp Fiction," we felt like we deserved better. It was, at best, disposable. But if you couldn't howl at Sandler trying to convince his grade-school classmates that it's cool to wet your pants, you were putting on the falsest of airs.
One year later, Sandler introduced audiences to a laughably awful hockey player who finds wildly unexpected success on the pro golf tour, thanks to his uncanny slapshot of a drive. Again, it didn't make a load of money ($38 million on a $12 million budget), but this film had heart (Gilmore only joined the tour to save his grandmother's house) and a more conventional formula narrative. It was an underdog tale in what we would come to know as the zany Sandler style.
It was "Happy Gilmore," and, over the years, it has arguably become Sandler's signature comedy with one of his best roles. And of his characters, the golfer with a volcanic temper and a heart of gold is probably the one fans would most love to revisit.
After 27 years, is a second go-round in the cards?
Why hasn't Happy Gilmore 2 happened yet?
Over 35 movies as a lead, Sandler has racked up a stunning $3 billion combined gross. What he has rarely done, however, is make a sequel. His only franchises are ensemble affairs: "Grown Ups," the animated "Hotel Transylvania" series, and most recently, "Murder Mystery." For the most part, Sandler loves to create eccentric, one-and-done protagonists. Interestingly, his fans don't tend to clamor for encores. He is a rarity in this regard among his comedy peers.
This doesn't mean Sandler has been averse to exploring the possibility of sequels to his most beloved films, but, thus far, he's never fully committed. At one point, he expressed interest in reteaming with Jack Nicholson for "Anger Management 2," but given that the legendary actor hasn't appeared on screen since James L. Brooks' "How Do You Know" in 2010, this seems like a pipe dream. Sandler's also floated the possibility of a follow-up to "The Waterboy" called "I Love Mama."
As for "Happy Gilmore," he's kept that sequel door cracked open, and he's at least got at least one very interested costar!
Everything cast members have said about Happy Gilmore 2.
It wouldn't be worth making a "Happy Gilmore" sequel without Christopher McDonald, whose Shooter McGavin is easily the most hissable villain in the Sandler canon. The arrogant, hyper-competitive golfer (who maintains a strange breakfast diet) makes it his mission to destroy Gimore's unlikely career, and he nearly succeeds.
In 2021, McDonald told CNN he's 100% game to revisit McGavin. "I would love to do it [the sequel]," he said. That same year, McDonald joined Sandler for an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show," and reiterated his desire to hit the links again.
Most importantly, Patrick put Sandler on the spot and asked if he could greenlight "Happy Gilmore 2." The Sandman's response, "Yes, you can greenlight this." He hedged a bit after that (unfortunately, the interview was conducted remotely, which led to the audio getting garbled), but all that matters is that the star and producer is in.
Now comes the hard part. What's the premise?
What could happen in Happy Gilmore 2?
In that 2021 CNN interview, McDonald offered up his vision for "Happy Gilmore 2," which would entail Shooter and Happy both being selected to play for the U.S. Ryder Cup team (the biennial team competition that pits United States golfers against their European counterparts). Per McDonald, it would go a little something like this:
"We're all good golfers, and the captain picks Gilmore. 'Are you out of your mind? He's a disgrace to the game!' Then, of course, Gilmore... makes the final putt that keeps the cup in America. That's how it goes. The middle part, I don't know yet. But oh my god, Shooter would go crazy if Gilmore was picked. Shooter is a serious golfer, and Gilmore's like, 'I'm just saving Grandma's house.'"
The only problem with this is that Happy and Shooter are getting on in years. McDonald is 68, while Sandler is 57, so their characters would be poor choices to represent the U.S. in the Ryder Cup. The obvious remedy to this is to set the hypothetical sequel on the PGA's Senior Tour, and this is a take Sandler endorses. As he told Variety in 2022:
"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."
Either version works for me, but Sandler's idea would make it easier to bring back some key older cast members.
Who will the stars of Happy Gilmore 2 be?
Aside from Sandler and McDonald, you can probably count on the return of several Sandler regulars. Allen Covert's homeless caddy Otto is a must, as is Kevin Nealon's weirdo golfer Gary Potter. And if Dennis Dugan returns to direct, he'd certainly have to reprise his role as the commissioner of the golf tour.
Other possibilities include Julie Bowen as Virginia Venit, the publicist who fell in love with Happy; Joe Flaherty as Happy's Shooter-hired heckler; Jared Van Snellenberg as Happy's first caddy (though the actor quit the entertainment business and became a professor of psychiatry at Stony Brook University); and a Force ghost cameo from Carl Weathers as Happy's wooden-handed mentor Chubbs Peterson. There's probably no reason to bring back Ben Stiller's elder-abusing orderly, but Sandler's zany comedies aren't exactly known for their internal logic. And though we recently lost the great Bob Barker, maybe his "Price Is Right" successor Drew Carey could be persuaded to beat the crap out of an irrationally angry Happy.
I just know that I won't be able to accept a "Happy Gilmore" sequel without an appearance from PGA legend Lee Trevino (though it'd apparently take some serious convincing to get him back).