Adam Sandler hasn’t been on the best box-office run of his career. Subtract his animated Hotel Transylvania films, and the comedian hasn’t cracked the $100 million domestic mark since Growns Ups 2. Misses like Pixels, Blended and That’s My Boy have led the one-time A-lister into new territories – a development deal with Netflix that will produce The Ridiculous 6, a Western comedy that just shared its first trailer, and a cast poster:
To no one’s real surprise, the cast is made up of mostly Adam Sandler regulars and friends. The former Happy Gilmore sits at the top of the poster, followed by Terry Crews (Blended, The Longest Yard), Taylor Lautner (Grown Ups 2) and Rob Schneider (a repeat offender with too many Sandler collaborations to list). Here’s that poster I was telling you about:
Crews and co-star Luke Wilson look like they are bringing movie-star machismo to Sandler’s first foray into his Netflix deal. Jorge Garcia of Lost, meanwhile, looks like an Eskimo, while Lautner absolutely is made up to look like some kind of dunce. Expect hilarity when this Twilight heartthrob is encouraged to let loose and improvise on the set of an Adam Sandler Western.
The Ridiculous Six has been protecting its plot, for the most part, but the trailer finally reveals details. Part of me assumed that Adam Sandler would roll with more familiar faces, as the cast also includes the likes of David Spade, Norm MacDonald, Will Forte and, of course, Steve Buscemi. We’re still left to wonder what these six men will be asked to do in the movie. Apparently they are all orphans, born of the same father. And the group of Robin Hood bank robbers will set off on a mission to save their dad... but from what?
Up to this point, The Ridiculous 6 largely has been marked by controversy. Extras employed to play Native Americans on the upcoming Sandler comedy balked at the stereotypical way they were being portrayed, taking offense with lines in Tim Herlihy and Sandler’s script. Uncomfortable set videos of producers arguing with extras made the rounds, though Netflix eventually defended Sandler’s motives and said, for the most part, that the comedy isn’t meant to be mean-spirited.
We’ll be able to judge for ourselves when Adam Sandler’s The Ridiculous 6 lands on Netflix on December 11. It is the first of a four-picture deal between Sandler and the content distributor. And if it isn’t to your liking, you can wait for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. Or, go back and rent The Magnificent Seven.
