Adam Sandler Explains That Not-So-Happy ‘Gilmore 2’ Plot Twist
Warning: This story contains a discussion about a major plot point in Happy Gilmore 2.
While Happy Gilmore 2’s launch blew up Netflix, setting a record for the streamer’s biggest U.S. opening weekend of all time, some fans were horrified by one of the sequel’s shockingly depressing storylines. After all the hubbub about Adam Sandler asking back Julie Bowen rather than replacing her with a hot, young star like Sydney Sweeney, the film wasted little time before killing the character, the victim of one of Happy’s errant power drives.
Yep, Happy killed his wife. File that one under Bold Comedy Choice.
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What were Sandler and long-time collaborator Tim Herlihy thinking? It was all about giving Happy something to overcome, Sandler told Hollywood Reporter. “There’s nothing more painful than losing someone you love,” he explained. “Just wanted to show how dedicated Happy was to Julie’s character, and he would never be able to move on from it and the love he had for her.”
It’s not a plot Sandler would have attempted when Gilmore was a young guy trying to make it as a professional golfer. “We just thought that was something to have going with the new story of where Happy is at his age,” he said. “We’re older now, so we’ve seen people go through stuff, and when you get older, this shit can happen — not in the same way it happens in our movie, but you lose people. Just dealing with it is difficult, and especially when you feel like you might have been a part of it, it’s hard to shake that stuff.”
But couldn’t Sandler and Herlihy come up with an age-appropriate obstacle for Gilmore to conquer that didn’t involve shattering his wife’s skull? That decision would appear to rule Bowen out of Happy Gilmore 3 in favor of someone like, oh, Sydney Sweeney.
“Julie is one of the best hangs around,” says Herlihy. “We were really looking forward to seeing her and Chris (McDonald) and Ben (Stiller). So it was a real sacrifice, but as Adam was saying, the story kind of demanded it.”
“Demanded” is a strong word, but okay. Whether or not viewers like the decision to murder Bowen’s character, it’s hard to argue with the streaming numbers for Happy Gilmore 2. The sequel’s popularity is so strong that it’s got Herlihy and Sandler thinking about other comedies they could revive.
“This throws it open. Obviously, a lot of our older movies, we’ve lost cast members, like in this one, and sometimes it’s hard to imagine doing it without them,” Herlihy said. “But the response to this and the way people have embraced it definitely makes it more exciting, if we were to do that.”
Hubie Halloween 2 seems like a natural. The original was a hit on Netflix, and a sequel would give Sandler and Herlihy the chance to slay another Bowen sweetheart in the name of character motivation.
