Adam Sandler has scored another four-movie deal with Netflix, bringing the total number of original films he’s producing for the digital network up to eight.
Sandler is currently still delivering titles produced under the four-film deal he made with Netflix back in 2014. So far, he’s released two – The Ridiculous 6 and The Do-Over – with the third, Sandy Wexler, out next month.
Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison, will continue oversee all of his Netflix projects.
In their announcement of the recently inked deal, Deadline calls Sandler “Netflix’s cornerstone comedy star,” which, at first, sounds like a jarring claim worth debating, given the network’s many recent high-profile stand-up acquisitions. Can Deadline really claim that, in 2017, Adam Sandler is more relevant than Dave Chappelle or Louis C.K.?
Actually, yes – Netflix claims that Sandler’s first two original films, The Ridiculous 6 and The Do-Over, were its two biggest film releases (so far). They don’t release their numbers, but, going by ratings alone that seems suspect – The Ridiculous 6 currently has what looks like a 2.25 star rating, and The Do-Over has 2.5; by comparison, The Waterboy and Big Daddy, two more classic Sandler films, have three stars each. (Dave Chappelle’s latest special has five stars.)
No matter, Netflix is going all in, and it does seem like Sandler’s latest, Sandy Wexler, is a departure from the slapstick, poorly scripted, and arguably vaguely racist offerings he’s put out so far – perhaps, a la Punch Drunk Love, the semi-dramatic story of Sandler’s old manager, Sandy Wexler, will set the actor on a new course.
“Adam Sandler one of the leading comedians in the film world, and his movies have proven to be extremely successful with our subscribers around the world,” Netflix Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos, says of the extension. “We are thrilled at the opportunity to extend our partnership with Adam and his entire team at Happy Madison and keep the world laughing.”
Sandy Wexler stars Sandler, Judd Apatow, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Nick Swardson, Kevin James, Dana Carvey Jennifer Hudson, Aaron Neville, Jane Seymour and Henry Winkler; it’s out on Netflix on April 14th.
