There are very few actors afforded the opportunity to steer the direction of their own careers without making any compromises, and Adam Sandler is one of the names on that exclusive list. His Happy Madison Productions outfit is responsible for the overwhelming majority of his output, and as a result, the 54 year-old essentially has carte blanche to do whatever he wants.
Outside of his rare forays into more dramatic territory, Sandler’s movies generally feature his established roster of supporting players that includes the likes of Kevin James, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Chris Rock, Peter Dante and Allen Covert to name but a small few. Even the crew largely remains the same, with writer Tim Herlihy scripting twelve of the actor’s star vehicles while directors Steven Brill, Dennis Dugan and Frank Coraci are responsible for helming a combined total of eighteen Happy Madison features.
Sandler’s bumper exclusive deal with Netflix has only increased his creative freedom, and Hubie Halloween arrives today with a script from Herlihy, Brill behind the camera and James, Schneider and Buscemi among the cast. The holiday comedy marks former King of Queens star James’ seventeenth Happy Madison effort, and in a recent interview, he revealed what keeps him coming back for more.
“It’s Sandler. It’s Sandler himself, because he’s the nucleus of this all and he’s the one that sets the table for this. He makes it amazing. What I love about his movies, especially this one, it has that classic feel where you’re so comfortable with it but it’s so funny, exactly what you want. I love seeing the people I already knew on set, it’s like a big summer camp where you hang out with all these talented people and you get to riff with them, you get to have fun with them, and there’s all these new people he’s bringing into the fold. It’s just a big party.”
Adam Sandler‘s movies have always given off the impression that they’re a whole lot more fun to make than they are to actually sit through, but based on his track record at both the box office and on Netflix, you can’t deny that he’s one of an increasingly dwindling number of A-listers capable of selling their latest project to the masses based on nothing but their name alone.