Once a fixture of Hollywood’s summer box office, Adam Sandler’s brand of broad comedy has all but vanished from cinema screens. His films, ranging from slapstick farces to nostalgic romcoms, once filled a crucial mid-year gap – bridging the lull between blockbuster spectacles and award-season dramas. But since his high-profile shift to Netflix in 2014, where he struck a series of lucrative multi-picture deals, Sandler has remained prolific yet largely invisible in cinemas. With hits like Grown Ups, Click, and Big Daddy behind him, his self-imposed theatrical exile has left a noticeable gap in the mainstream comedy landscape.
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Sandler’s retreat has been both strategic and personal. Though his comedies rarely troubled awards voters, they attracted mass audiences – grossing $3.9 billion globally over two decades. But as the genre declined and scrutiny over content grew louder, streaming offered a safer, more flexible alternative. Without the pressures of box office returns or media-led flops, Sandler could continue producing both his signature slapstick and more nuanced fare, such as Uncut Gems and The Meyerowitz Stories, all from behind the algorithmic curtain of Netflix. Notably, global audiences have since clocked up over two billion hours watching his content.
Despite being mocked for formulaic scripts and man-child protagonists, Sandler’s work travels well – a rare feat for comedy. His continued relevance lies in his adaptability: creating star-studded crowd-pleasers like Murder Mystery, while supporting his long-time collaborators through Happy Madison productions. At heart, his loyalty to his comedy cohort and working-class roots has driven much of his creative output. Netflix, in turn, has given him the freedom to balance commercial comedy with serious acting, and to act as benefactor to his comedic circle – something traditional studios had grown tired of by the mid-2010s.
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Yet Sandler isn’t done with cinemas altogether. His latest Netflix film, a sequel to Happy Gilmore, will remain on the platform – but his upcoming collaboration with director Noah Baumbach (Jay Kelly) is set for a limited theatrical run to qualify for awards. For a brief moment, the man once labelled a “human laugh track” will return to the big screen – and perhaps remind audiences what they’ve been missing. In an era when traditional studio comedies have all but disappeared, Sandler’s resurgence – even briefly – might prove there’s still life in the genre after all.
