Adam Sandler opened up about the sudden changes he made in the highly anticipated Happy Gilmore 2 following the passing of a beloved cast member.
Ahead of the movie’s release, the legendary comedian spoke about his friend Carl Weathers, who was planned to be part of the much-awaited sequel.
According to the award-winning star, the 76-year-old actor was set to reprise his role as Chubbs Peterson, the mentor of Happy Gilmore portrayed by Sandler.
Described as a “painful change,” the Big Daddy star revealed that the team had to make major adjustments since the late actor initially had “a massive part” in the movie.
“I would talk to Carl, and we were excited, and then Carl passed away,” Sandler told Collider, adding, “We had to rewrite a lot of the stuff, and even what the story was. We made a lot of nice references to how great Chubbs was in the movie. That was the biggest change.”
Since the first movie depicted Peterson’s golf career and accident, as well as his role in helping Happy channel his talent, the sequel will highlight a backstory about his family, particularly his son.
“In the first version that we came up with, he had a son,” the actor said. “He was coming back to me a lot in my dreams, and he had a son who was mad at Happy for causing the death of daddy.”
Unfortunately, before production kicked off, Weathers passed away in February 2024 due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, also known as ASCVD.
At the time, Sandler took to Instagram to pay tribute to what he described as “a true great man. Great dad. Great actor and great athlete.”
Helmed by Kyle Newacheck of Game Over Man!, Happy Gilmore 2 is set to hit Netflix on July 25.
Joining Sandler are Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen and Ben Stiller, who will reprise their roles, while the sequel also introduces new cast members such as Margaret Qualley, Bad Bunny, Benny Safdie, Kym Whitley and NFL star Travis Kelce.
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