Following the massive success of Happy Gilmore 2, Netflix is officially reuniting with Adam Sandler for another sequel to one of his biggest hits. One of the most unexpected comedy franchises around just got an update we didn’t expect for a while. Critics may not have exactly treated it like sacred text, but audiences have kept returning to its particular mix of old friends, dumb jokes, family chaos, and a very successful comedian basically building a summer vacation around a movie shoot.
Netflix has confirmed that Grown Ups 3 is officially in development. The new film will be directed by Kyle Newacheck, with Adam Sandler and Tim Herlihy writing the script. Sandler, Jackie Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, and Herlihy will produce, while Kevin Grady and Judit Maull are executive producing.
The original Grown Ups was released in 2010 and followed a group of childhood friends who reunite after the death of their old basketball coach. The film became a major commercial hit, grossing more than $271 million worldwide, before spawning Grown Ups 2 in 2013, which also performed strongly with more than $247 million worldwide. So, yes, the critics were not in the tank for these movies, but the box office absolutely was.
The original cast included Adam Sandler (Happy Gilmore, Uncut Gems) as Lenny Feder, Kevin James (Paul Blart: Mall Cop, The King of Queens) as Eric Lamonsoff, Chris Rock (Top Five, Everybody Hates Chris) as Kurt McKenzie, David Spade (Tommy Boy, Joe Dirt) as Marcus Higgins, Rob Schneider (The Hot Chick, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo) as Rob Hilliard, Salma Hayek Pinault (Frida, Eternals) as Roxanne Chase-Feder, Maria Bello (A History of Violence, Prisoners) as Sally Lamonsoff, Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids, Loot) as Deanne McKenzie, and Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire, Fargo) as Wiley. Casting for the third film has not yet been announced.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Why Is ‘Grown Ups 3’ Happening Now?
The simple answer is that Sandler’s Netflix era has been huge. His movies have become some of the streamer’s most reliable crowd-pleasers, and Grown Ups already has the kind of broad, low-maintenance comedy appeal that plays extremely well at home. This is not a franchise built around intricate mythology or a multiverse of lake-house dads. It’s built around familiar faces, easy laughs, and the comfort of watching a group of comedy stars hang out and annoy each other for 90 minutes.
Newacheck previously worked with Sandler on Murder Mystery, one of Netflix’s biggest original comedy hits, and has a strong background in ensemble comedy through Workaholics and What We Do in the Shadows. That makes him a sensible fit for a franchise where the chemistry between the cast is basically the whole machine. Surely the majority of the cast will return, too. But for the moment, we know Sandler’s involved, and we’re about to get some more manchild chaos.
