Adam Sandler has brought his fans a memorable set of movies to Netflix over the years, be it last year’s Hubie Halloween or the wildly popular Murder Mystery. The actor is next starring in a much more grounded Netflix film in the form of the sports drama Hustle, which has Sandler playing a washed-up basketball scout who finds a gifted street ball player overseas. As Sandler revealed recently, one element of working with Netflix changed the movie in a big way.
Hustle has a major cast that includes Queen Latifah, Robert Duvall and Ben Foster, and is being backed financially not only by himself, but Space Jam: A New Legacy’s LeBron James. When speaking on The Dan Patrick Show, Adam Sandler shared one element of the movie that shifted thanks to the streaming service:
It was written originally that I find a player in China and somehow, Netflix is not in China. So they were like, 'Would you guys please make it so we find someone in Latin America or Europe? So the next thing you know I'm in Majorca [Spain].
Netflix apparently put the kibosh on one major location the film was set to be set in due to some territory issues, and it explains why we don’t venture off to China a lot in Netflix originals, if you’ve somehow noticed this trend. In the script, Sandler’s character was set to find a basketball player in the Middle Kingdom, but he’s since found himself in Spain. No doubt this prompted a lot of rewrites from its original form because of the notes from the studio.
It is an interesting and strange request. Just because the country at large cannot stream a movie like Hustle means that's grounds for changing its story? According to Netflix, yes! We’re definitely curious how the setting may have changed up the script penned by writers Taylor Materne and Will Fetters.
Adam Sandler is currently filming Hustle, and the movie is expected to hit the streaming service sometime next year. Before then, we’ll see Adam Sandler in another Netflix movie called Spaceman. That movie will also star Promising Young Woman’s Carey Mulligan, and will be about an astronaut (Sandler) who goes to Venus to retrieve samples when he finds out his wife (Mulligan) is leaving him.
It certainly sounds like Adam Sandler’s next two projects will tap into some of his dramatic chops, but don’t worry, comedy fans, he’s still making Murder Mystery 2 for the streamer as well. Right there, that makes for a lot of projects from Sandler to be excited about. Though the actor did opt out of reprising his role as Dracula in the upcoming Hotel Transylvania movie, now coming to Amazon Prime this October.
