Adam Sandler movies are frequently cult classics for a reason. Although Sandler has starred in a range of movies over the years, from pure comedies to flicks with more serious tones and heartfelt messages at times (which have also had varying degrees of success), he consistently leads in movies that are genuinely fun watches. Certainly among those movies is Grown Ups, as well as its sequel, Grown Ups 2.
Clearly, many people agree, as Grown Ups 3 has just been confirmed, marking Sandler’s very first live-action trilogy. That in and of itself is exciting, but it also begs the question: What other Adam Sandler movies deserve to be revisited? Of those movies that should absolutely get a sequel, these 5—some of which have already had one sequel and some of which have not—top the list.
One of Sandler’s movies that has already gotten a sequel, which would therefore mean yet another live-action trilogy for the comedy star, is Murder Mystery. As the title suggests, the movie and its sequel were both in the whodunnit genre, and while the movies are both a little absurd at times, they are nevertheless hilarious and plenty of fun to watch. The movies also star Sandler alongside one of his best co-stars, Jennifer Aniston.
Sandler and Aniston might seem like an unusual comedy duo at first, but they are actually brilliant together, which has now been proven in multiple projects in which they co-star. It would be great to see this movie revisited one more time and get a bit more screen time for Sandler’s character Nick and Aniston’s character Audrey as they get into even more hijinks.
One of Sandler’s best movies of all time, and one that has a more emotional tone and deeper message than many of his other movies, is Click. The story centers on Sandler’s character Michael Newman, a man who gets access to a magic remote that allows him to fast forward through moments of his life that he finds boring. At first, that seems great, but the remote ends up getting out of hand, and he misses huge chunks of his life that he didn’t want to skip.
This movie is truly a brilliant one, which would make it a difficult sequel to pull off—in fact, undoubtedly, many would think that it shouldn’t be touched. However, with such a profound message, it would be interesting to see the underlying meaning revisited in a modern context. It’s been 20 years since Click was first released, and it would be fascinating to see how a sequel could tackle similar modern issues, including things like AI.
Just Go With It is yet another Aniston and Sandler-led movie, although this one also sees the duo initially not romantically linked but rather co-workers, wherein Aniston’s Katherine works for Sandler’s Danny in his plastic surgery office. When Danny meets a much younger woman, Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), he gets himself into a tricky situation and has to pretend Katherine is his ex-wife. Hilarity and heart ensue in this story that feels like nonstop improv.
Given that Sandler and Aniston’s characters end up together in the end, it would be interesting to see where they ended up years later. Frankly, this one would also just be really fun to revisit, as the characters and the tone of the movie were both absolutely hilarious.
Bedtime Stories is one of Sandler’s more underrated movies, particular because it combines Sandler’s classic comedic style with a sweet message and story arc. In the movie, Sandler’s character, Skeeter, tells bedtime stories to his niece and nephew only for the stories to start coming true. That alone is a hilarious premise, but it’s also executed brilliantly by the cast.
This story could certainly be revisited several years later, as Bedtime Stories ends with a sort of happily ever after for Skeeter, who ends up with Jill (Keri Russell), his romantic interest in the film. It would be fun to see Skeeter up to similar antics in a new phase of his life, perhaps settled down with Jill and children of their own.
Finally, undoubtedly one of Sandler’s greatest movies overall is 50 First Dates, which he stars in opposite Drew Barrymore. The story centers on Sandler’s character, Henry, and Barrymore’s character, Lucy, as they navigate the fact that Lucy has short term memory loss and never remembers Henry the next day—hence the title. The movie ends with Lucy still having this condition, meaning that Henry will continually need to remind her who he is.
It would therefore be easy enough to jump forward in time and show how this is working for them later in life, particularly since the ending showed that they have a daughter. Some may say this is such a good movie that it doesn’t need to be revisited, especially since it was made so long ago, in 2004. However, Happy Gilmore 2 already proved that a cult classic Sandler movie can get a successful sequel decades later, leaving the door open for 50 First Dates 2.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
