At one point, Adam Sandler was one of the most successful comedy actors in Hollywood.
After a brief but notable stint on SNL, Sandler became, for an entire generation, the quintessential
lovable doofus.
His first few post-SNL movies were wild successes in the cable and home video markets, and in
subsequent films, he proved to be a leading man who could act with heart.
More recently, though, Sandler's taken quite a fall from professional grace.
After a bunch of box office flops, here are a few reasons his career appears to be nearly
beyond repair.
Over it
The infamous Sony hack in 2014 revealed a lot of embarrassing information about the
studio — and also a whole bunch of drama.
Leaked emails revealed that, on a professional and seemingly personal level, people at Sony
were over Sandler and his movies.
According to Vulture, one employee wrote,
"There is a general 'blah-ness' to the films we produce.
[...] We continue to be saddled with the mundane, formulaic Adam Sandler films."
"Ha ha ha is that right?"
Rough decade?
While his movies were never beloved by critics, some of Sandler's work in the last decade
has been bad enough to make history.
On the Wikipedia page called "List of films considered the worst," there are ten movies
listed for the 2010s, and Sandler produced or starred in three.
Since 2009's Funny People, every single movie he's produced or written has been certified
rotten by Rotten Tomatoes.
Ouch.
"I mean, I just couldn't get the ball in the hole.
I wanted to, but I just couldn't do it."
No questions asked
Sandler doesn't appear to be interested in challenging his unfavorable media portrayal.
Entertainment Weekly reported that early in his career, after doing press junkets for
Billy Madison, he decided to stop talking to print journalists almost entirely.
According to Screen Crush, Sandler said,
"I used to be misquoted all the time."
This was a bold move at the time, and it's certainly a risk today, when an online presence
makes publicity a highly competitive game — particularly with younger audiences.
"Push-up bras encouraged"
Overt sexism is becoming increasingly less tolerated in the entertainment industry, and
recently, Sandler has earned a few feminist wrist slaps.
In June of 2016, actress Rose McGowan tweeted out a casting notice she'd received for one
of Sandler's movies suggesting that actresses wear "form-fitting tanks that show off cleavage
(push-up bras encouraged)."
The Daily Dot published a tongue-in-cheek piece entitled "How to Be a Girl in an Adam
Sandler Movie" that accused Sandler of writing female characters who were, quote, "all but
a literal object."
At the premiere for Hotel Transylvania 2 in 2015, he and co-star Kevin James, both in
what appeared to be gym clothes, were photographed next to a very dressed-up Selena Gomez, prompting
an internet controversy over the double standards for men and women.
Been there, seen them
Comedy posses are nothing new, especially among SNL alumni, but Sandler's insistence
on working time and time again with actors like David Spade, Kevin James, and Rob Schneider
may be preventing him from reaching younger fans.
In the case of The Do-Over, this resulted in yet another slew of disastrous reviews,
with one IndieWire critic declaring Sandler a:
"...restless innovator [who] is still finding new methods of making bad movies."
"I thank you for beating the s--- out of me."
Grows on trees
When it comes to matters of money, Sandler has also apparently made a habit of rubbing
people the wrong way.
In one leaked exchange from the Sony hack, it was revealed that Sandler had tried to
convince executives to cough up $200 million dollars for a Candy Land project — comparable
to the budget of a Star Wars or an X-Men movie.
According to Page Six, after that dead-end meeting, exec Amy Pascal wrote,
"Adam is an a--hole and this is more his fault than anyone."
Doug Belgrad, president of Sony's motion picture group, added,
"He isn't the guy he once was.
And nobody can make that better for him."
On another occasion, Sandler reportedly tried to squeeze an extra $100,000 dollars out of
the studio as a fee for his producing partner, which the studio's movers and shakers balked
at.
Netflix shackles
In 2014, Sandler signed a four-movie deal with Netflix that has in many ways proven
to be his best career move of the decade.
He produced The Ridiculous 6, The Do-Over, and Sandy Wexler in short order — all of
which were critically savaged.
But according to Netflix, they get tons of eyeballs.
In the years since inking the deal, the box office is no longer a consideration.
With Netflix, he's seemingly become bomb-proof, to the point where one wonders if he'll ever
return to work in the studio system that made him a star.
And hey, maybe he doesn't want or need to.
Either way, for now, he's staying on the small screen.
In 2017, nearing the end of their deal, Sandler's camp and Netflix re-upped for four more films.
"So that's what I'll do."
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