Happy Gilmore 2 Premieres on Netflix — But Can It Match the Cult Status of the 1996 Classic? ( Photo Credit – Netflix )
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One of the most anticipated Adam Sandler releases of this year, Happy Gilmore 2, has finally premiered on Netflix on July 25, 2025. 29 years later, and after getting a lot of rejections, Sandler became successful in making the sequel to his golf comedy-drama Happy Gilmore. Although it received mixed reviews from the audience and critics, it was commercially successful, earning $41 million at the worldwide box office, despite a budget of $12 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
Now, the sequel has been made with twice the budget of the previous one. As per IMDb, Happy Gilmore 2 has been made with $30 million, but will it be able to surpass the success of the prequel? Scroll ahead to find out.
What Is Happy Gilmore 2 About?
Adam Sandler not only stars in Happy Gilmore 2, but he also co-wrote the film along with Herlihy. In the sequel, the storyline follows Happy (Sandler), who is now a retired golfer, living with his four sons and one daughter (Sandler’s daughter, Sunny Sandler, played his onscreen daughter’s role). But as a tragic incident hits him, he gets pulled back to the golf course. But this time, he is an insider and wants to protect the sport.
In an interview, Sandler and Herlihy opened up about how this idea came to life. The actor said via WCNC, “If someone brought it up to us, we were like, ‘Yeah, no, we’re not going to do that’. There was no moment we went ‘Aha.’ It just kind of happened. The last couple years, we were talking about Happy and how it might be funny if he was down and out.”
He continued, “We thought it could be fun to write something like that. It kind of connected to our lives and this age, and wanting to make a full-on comedy. There’s nothing better than dropping a comedy and trying to make people laugh, to us. It feels like why we originally got into this business. We were outlining the story together and then we were like, ‘We should watch the first one again, man’. We’re going off of our memory of so many things, hanging out with Carl Weathers and Bob Barker and all that stuff. Then we watched it and we were like, ‘Oh, yeah.’ It was a tone.”
Will Happy Gilmore 2 Be Able To Surpass The Prequel In Terms Of Success?
Elaborate comedy films have already gone extinct. Adam Sandler tried his best to make a return to this genre by putting effort and piecing together Happy’s life for Happy Gilmore 2. But will it be able to woo the viewers? So far, after releasing on Netflix on July 25, 2025, the film has received mixed reviews on X (previously known as Twitter). One wrote, “I tried. I really tried. But, Happy Gilmore 2 is garbage. They just crammed every old joke in it and hoped the nostalgia would carry it. It didn’t.”
I tried. I really tried. But, Happy Gilmore 2 is garbage. They just crammed every old joke in it and hoped the nostalgia would carry it. It didn't. pic.twitter.com/8oofTLyuKg
— 🎬🔥Jeff W (Rookie Critic) 📹🥪 (@therookiecritic) July 25, 2025
Another Adam Sandler fan wrote, “Happy Gilmore 2 was exactly what I expected it to be and I loved it.” While many viewers loved the nostalgia, others criticized the movie for having too many recycled jokes.
Happy Gilmore 2 was exactly what I expected it to be and I loved it 🤷🏻♀️
Happy Gilmore, the original film was released in 1996 in the theatres, but was it a clever move to premiere the sequel on Netflix rather than making it a theatrical release? What do you think about this movie? Will it earn millions of views on the OTT platform? Only time can tell.
