Happy Gilmore is one of Adam Sandler’s best rom-coms, and is arguably one of the most iconic titles from his long resume. The next upcoming Sandler movie is a long-awaited sequel for that title, which is arriving this week for those with a Netflix subscription. I had the chance to catch and early screening, and asked Sandman why so many of the songs from the original made their way to Happy’s second movie adventure.
What we know about Happy Gilmore 2 has been limited thus far, as Netflix and Sandler are hoping to guard the secrets of the follow-up. As you can see in the video above, I had the privilege of speaking with Sandler and Julie Bowen ahead of its release. I asked about the repeats in the soundtrack, and he told me:
When we put them in we were editing and we would throw the right song in from the past and it would give you just a whole other feeling for the scene. We were definitely trying to show respect for the first one throughout the movie and the feelings that gave you and connect the two. I’m glad you brought that up. Whenever we could and whenever it made sense we put a song in from the first one.
Honestly, this tracks (no pun intended). Music has a strange way of bringing people back to a certain time, and Adam Sandler has always brought memorable soundtracks to his movies. And fans who have re-watched Happy Gilmore over and over again will likely be struck by the way the same needle drops are used in the sequel.
The Happy Gilmore 2 trailer featured one such song, namely Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Tuesday’s Gone.” This song opened the original movie, and it does the same for the sequel. In our conversation Sandler brought that track up specifically, saying:
That Lynyrd Skynyrd song up top always breaks your heart, yeah
He’s not wrong. The nostalgic feels for Happy Gilmore 2 are real, as it feels like a love letter to the 1996 original. In my screening I could see other fans get excited when they heard the same songs, as well as every little easter egg and reference to the first movie. Now I’m curious to see if certain tracks end up being streamed more after the new project is released.
Happy Gilmore 2 is one of the most highly anticipated titles on the 2025 Netflix release list. Adam Sandler has been finding a ton of success with his movies for the streaming service, which include Hubie Halloween and and the Murder Mystery franchise. Happy Gilmore has a legacy all its own, and the first movie has been trending on Netflix as fans prepare for the sequel. At the time of writing this story, it’s currently #4 among all of Netflix’s vast catalogue of movies.
It certainly seems like Happy Gilmore 2 is set up for success, and we’ll see how well it ultimately performs when it arrives on Netflix on July 25th as part of the 2025 movie release list.
