Almost 30 years after Adam Sandler played ice hockey champ turned long-driving golfer in Happy Gilmore, the Hollywood star has started filming a sequel commissioned by streaming giant Netflix.

Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Sandler, 58, said reprising his iconic 1996 role has taken some practice, especially perfecting the “hop, skip and hit” manoeuvre he made famous on the fairway.

Fallon asked him what he could tell his captive audience about the sequel about the fish-out-of-water golfer?

“It’s good, it’s good, we worked hard on this script … we didn’t want to let anybody down … people have been asking me for a long time ‘do Happy Gilmore 2’.

“When shooting starts, I’ll be a gamer, man,” quipped Sandler, who was 30 when the original premiered.

Netflix says “it’s unclear how the film will resurrect Gilmore’s golf career”, but Sandler’s inclusion of real pro-golfers and a cameo from “the big handsome” Travis Kelce (Taylor Swift’s boyfriend), might just be the game changer the sequel needs to get it over the line.

Happy Gilmore isn’t the only cult hit film that was greenlit for a sequel this year.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Deadpool & Wolverine, Twisters, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Gladiator II made the cut, as well as sequel TV series from the ever-giving Star Wars franchise.

Are these sequels aimed at the Gen Xs (aged 44 to 59) who watched it at the cinema the first time, the Millennials (aged 28 to 43) who watched them on DVD rentals as kids, or Gen Z (aged 12 to 27) who know them as memes on social media?

Monash University associate professor in Film and Screen Studies
Constantine Verevis tells The New Daily remakes and sequels carry a “pre-sold” promise of financial returns, can be nostalgia-driven and shared across generations, regardless of age.

“[They] might simultaneously appeal to (and are popular) because they are recipient-designed to appeal to multiple audiences,” Verevis said.

“Those who have seen earlier versions, know of (that is, have a narrative image of) previous versions, or have never heard of the earlier versions, and who see the new film simply in terms of … novelty and repetition that they’d associate with any genre film.”

Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in Star Wars. Director George Lucas has tinkered endlessly with his work. Photo: Lucasfilm

The Star Wars phenomenon

Out of all the movie franchises, the Star Wars juggernaut has moved seamlessly through generations since the first film (Episode IV: A New Hope) in 1977.

It’s produced an original trilogy, prequel and sequel movies and spin-off TV series, and continued to appeal to each generation.

Why does it resonate with so many generations, regardless of age?

The franchise, created by George Lucas in the 1970s, is one of the most successful in the world, according to the business website Investopedia.

Disney purchased the franchise from Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in 2012 “in order to make more content to leverage its popularity”.

Its success is down to “a great story, innovative marketing, and clever targeting of many demographics”.

Last year, the global success of The Mandalorian opened the door for more Star Wars Disney+ TV shows, both animated and live action, including The Acolyte, after years of anticipation.

See anyone familiar? Hello, Chewy! The next generation of stars at the May premiere of Lucasfilm’s The Acolyte still carries enduring characters from the original. Photo: Disney

In an unofficial global Reddit Star Wars chat room, one contributor says the reason he became a fan was because of the sequel.

“Before The Force Awakens [2015, set 30 years after Return of the Jedi], I knew nothing about Star Wars.

“However, when [it] came out, I clearly remembered the atmosphere in the cinema and I was in awe when I saw the Star Wars title card flash before the screen – it was surreal and unlike any other film I have ever watched.

“Just like how people in their 20s to 30s grew up with The Clone Wars [TV series from 2008 to 2020], I grew up with [Star Wars] Rebels [animation, 2014] and people younger than me grew up with Resistance [2018].

“The sequels did bring in new fans.

“When you ask anyone in Gen Z about Star Wars, it is not R2D2, Anakin or Darth Vader that comes out first, it is characters like BB-8 and Kylo Ren.

“No matter your thoughts on the sequels, it is because of it that they can build on the prequels and the originals (if they build on it before the sequels, no one from Gen Z would even consider watching).”