Not too long ago, Adam Sandler made the jump to more family friendly comedy that comedians have become known for. Though unlike some of his less successful contemporaries, Sandler actually made some decent money, as Hotel Transylvania and its sequel both crushed at the box office. Unsatisfied with merely one animated franchise in his canon, it looks like Adam Sandler is jumping into a fresh, animated franchise at an upstart studio.
This announcement comes from The Wrap, which pegs Adam Sandler as writing, starring, and producing the untitled animated film for STX Entertainment. His Happy Madison production company will be, of course, involved – which means that you can probably expect the usual suspects to start to board the mystery project as fellow cast members. No other details are available, except that relative newcomer STX Entertainment is using this project to help broaden their programming slate for younger viewers.
What's interesting about this development is that, for the longest time, Adam Sandler and Happy Madison have had a healthy relationship with Sony and their various studios. In fact, Sandler's still got Hotel Transylvania 3 promised to his current studio home, which may complicate relations a little between the star and his studio, making us wonder if Adam Sandler is looking to make a jump away from Sony. Some could have said the same when he signed his deal with Netflix, but at least that was compartmentalized to his live-action comedy efforts. Though the circumstances that prompted that move may have set up the playing field for another suitor to court the comedian.
After all, Sony was the studio that sent The Ridiculous 6 packing back in 2012, leaving Adam Sandler and Happy Madison to shop the project to several studios that passed, only to see it wind up as part of a four picture exclusive with Netflix. With this fact in mind, it's entirely possible that Sandler may be looking to set up shop elsewhere, and it wouldn't be surprising if STX Entertainment became the new home of Happy Madison's laugh factory. Of course, this all depends on how well this mystery animated film does for the studio.
Come to think of it, what if this deal with STX Entertainment is a prelude to Hotel Transylvania 3 being moved from Sony into the new studio's eager hands? At the moment, it doesn't seem that likely, as Hotel Transylvania 2 was such a big hit that it made up for the slow route Pixels took to become a profitable hit on paper. But if Adam Sandler is serious about starting out fresh with a new partner, and if Sony's desperate enough for capital, there could be a deal similar to that of the studio's lending of Spider-Man to the MCU. Meaning that STX Entertainment could get the boost of a well known property, with Sony not having to spend as much, if any money on production and advertising.
We'll see what happens, as this story is currently still developing. But in the meantime, you can see Adam Sandler's latest live-action effort, The Do-Over, on May 27th – exclusively on Netflix.
