Adam Sandler celebrated the 25th anniversary of his cult-classic Happy Gilmore with a trademark Happy-style golf video. Sandler is arguably one of the most bankable and successful comedic actors in recent memory, and his success in the film industry started with Billy Madison and 1996’s Happy Gilmore. Although Happy Gilmore did not take the box office world by storm, grossing $41 million worldwide, the film’s popularity only grew over time and is arguably one of Sandler’s most quoted films.
Happy Gilmore tells the story of a failed hockey player, Happy Gilmore (Sandler), who discovers he has a knack for golf, and by entering and winning a golf tournament, he could prevent his grandmother from losing her home. Unlike a lot of the actor’s recent offerings, the film possesses Sandler’s wonderful comedic instincts, a supremely talented supporting cast that includes Ben Stiller and Carl Weathers, but also has a great heart to the story, making it stand out as one of Sandler’s most iconic films. This is why calls for a Happy Gilmore sequel have persisted all these years later and why fans enjoy any glimpse of the film that they can get. So to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Happy Gilmore, Sandler did not let his fans down as he dived back into Happy mode for a social media video.
Sandler tweeted a video of himself teeing off on the green to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his beloved film. In the video, Sandler starts off by saying, “It’s been 25 years since I’ve done this. Let’s see what happens,” and what follows is Sandler doing the trademark Happy Gilmore run-up, and even better, the ball is “smashed” far away, just like in the film. To make it even better, Sandler closes the video with the statement: “You’re dead, Shooter,” referencing Christopher McDonald’s character Shooter McGavin (who also responded with a video of his own) before giving fans the trademark Gilmore laugh. Full video can be seen below:
The video is a nostalgic treat for fans of Sandler and, of course, Happy Gilmore. From the run-up, the powerful strike of the ball, and the closing remarks directed at Shooter McGavin. It’s got so many of the popular elements of the film wrapped up into one clip, and perhaps the only thing that’s missing from the video is not knowing whether or not the ball ended up in its “Home!” The video already has over 11 million views on Twitter, after only being posted yesterday, and it once again shows the love that fans have for all things Happy Gilmore. It’s also why in 2020, characters from the film, like Stiller’s popular mean nurse Hal L., appeared in Sandler’s most recent Netflix success, Hubie Halloween.
A Happy Gilmore sequel does not appear to be on the cards anytime soon, as Sandler has rarely been one to go down the sequel route, and he is also busy churning out content for Netflix as part of the deal between his Happy Madison Productions and the streaming service. The move has seen Sandler have a career resurgence, as his brand of comedy began to wane when it came to theatrical releases, but on Netflix, people have happily spent over 2 billion hours watching his films. However, it’s clear from the reaction to Sandler’s Happy Gilmore-inspired video that as far as films that have a long-lasting impact on audiences, Sandler still has some searching to do in order to match Happy Gilmore.
Source: Adam Sandler