Adam Sandler Sets a New Netflix Record & It Makes Sequels to His Classic Movies More Likely

For over a decade, Adam Sandler has been in business with Netflix, maintaining a production deal with the streamer. This turned out to be a very smart move on the actor’s part. As the theatrical landscape has changed (making it more difficult for mid-budget studio comedies to break through at the box office), streaming has proven to be the ideal venue for Sandler’s comedy vehicles. Since starting his partnership with Netflix, Sandler has made films like Murder Mystery and Hubie Halloween, which typically perform very well in terms of viewership. In 2025, Sandler made one of Netflix’s biggest new films, and it could launch a new era of his career.

Earlier this month, Netflix released its What We Watched report for the second half of 2025. Happy Gilmore 2, which premiered in late July, was the second most-watched movie on the streamer from July-December with 135 million views. It trailed only the animated sensation Kpop Demon Hunters, which had 482 million views. Those were the only two Netflix movies to accumulate over 100 million views during the second half of the year, and Happy Gilmore 2 was by far the most popular sequel.

After Happy Gilmore 2, Netflix Could Look to Make More Adam Sandler Sequels

Comedy legacy sequels have proven to be a notoriously difficult nut to crack. Hollywood history is full of instances of follow-ups that fail to live up to the magic of the original. However, Netflix managed to buck that trend with Happy Gilmore 2. While the film wasn’t an outright critical darling, it still received generally positive reviews (62% on Rotten Tomatoes), and it obviously performed very well with the audience. The high viewership figures for Happy Gilmore 2 illustrates there’s still interest and demand for Sandler’s comedy movies. There’s no reason why this lucrative partnership shouldn’t continue.

A big reason why Happy Gilmore 2 was so successful is the nostalgia fans have for the original, which is widely considered to be one of Sandler’s best efforts. The performance of Happy Gilmore 2 could pave the way for Netflix to make sequels to some of Sandler’s other classics, tapping into what made the Happy Gilmore follow-up such a hit. Happy Gilmore 2 director Kyle Newacheck told us that he would like to make a sequel to Little Nicky. He’s already proven he has what it takes to make an entertaining Sandler legacy sequel, so maybe Netflix will give him the chance to make another one.

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It’s also possible Netflix pursues Happy Gilmore 3. Such a project isn’t in the works yet, but after seeing the streaming numbers for both films (the original Happy Gilmore was a big hit on Netflix leading up to the sequel’s premiere), it’s clear this property has a huge fan base and there would likely be interest in another installment, as long as the filmmakers can find the right approach. Happy Gilmore 2 is one of the strongest Happy Madison productions in years, but some felt it still went overboard on references and callbacks. Doing the same thing again could lead to diminished returns, so if Happy is to come back, mixing up the formula a little could be beneficial.

Regardless of which Sandler movie starts rolling cameras next, Happy Gilmore 2 is another example of comedy being the dominant genre on Netflix, highlighting a strange truth about the nature of streaming services. Streamers like Netflix, Apple TV, and Prime Video have tried to make splashes on the awards circuit and with big-budget genre films, but comedy remains the most reliable draw. In a way, that isn’t surprising. When looking for something fun to watch at home at the end of the day, a studio comedy probably has the most appeal to the widest audience. Netflix will definitely keep making comedy movies as long as these numbers stay as high as they are.

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