Ben Stiller is reprising his role from “Happy Gilmore” in the follow-up to Adam Sandler‘s 1996 classic sports comedy, “Happy Gilmore 2.”
Netflix is backing the long-awaited sequel, which is currently filming in New Jersey. Along with Sandler and Stiller, the cast will include familiar faces such as Christopher McDonald as pro-golfer Shooter McGavin and Julie Bowen as Sandler’s character’s romantic interest Virginia Venit. New additions to the golf world of “Happy Gilmore 2” include comedian Nick Swardson, filmmaker Benny Safdie, musician Bad Bunny, actor Margaret Qualley and NFL star Travis Kelce.
Netflix didn’t respond to Variety’s request for comment about Stiller’s casting.Dennis Dugan helmed the original “Happy Gilmore,” which helped — along with “Billy Madison,” “The Wedding Singer” and “The Waterboy” — to cement Sandler as one of the biggest comedy stars of his time while generating $40 million against a $12 million budget.
The funnyman played the titular Happy Gilmore, a hockey player with anger management issues who discovers a knack for golf. He competes in a paid tournament to win enough money to stop the foreclosure of his grandmother’s house and along the way gains a following for his unusual antics.
In the first film, Stiller played Hal, a nursing home orderly who exaggerates to Happy about the way his grandmother is treated at a retirement home. He’s reprising his role in the sequel, as evidenced by the name tag he’s wearing in paparazzi shots from set.
Otherwise, plot details for “Happy Gilmore 2” have not been revealed. However, Sandler dropped a few hints about the story over the summer.
“The movie itself picks up from an older guy who played golf a long time,” Sandler teased on Kelce’s New Heights podcast in August. “Some stuff goes on in his life, and he’s different. He’s a bit of a mess. And then we try to get his life cooking again.”
From Variety US