Happy Madison Productions

Happy Madison Productions, Inc. is an American film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler,[1][2][3] which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy, and distributed by Universal Pictures.

Happy Madison Productions, Inc.
TypePrivate
Industry
FoundedDecember 10, 1999 (1999-12-10)
FounderAdam Sandler
Headquarters
Key people
OwnersAdam Sandler
Jack Giarraputo
ParentHappy Madison, Inc.
DivisionsMadison 23 Productions (2007-2009)
Scary Madison Productions (2009)

In addition to various Sandler-produced films, the company has also released films produced by others, such as Steven Brill, Dennis Dugan, Frank Coraci, Fred Wolf, Tom Brady, Peter Segal, Nicholaus Goossen, and Tyler Spindel.

The 1998 films The Waterboy and The Wedding Singer helped jump start Sandler's movie career and production company. He produced The Waterboy and co-wrote the script with Tim Herlihy. The film was extremely profitable, earning over $160 million in the United States alone and made Sandler a successful actor with The Waterboy becoming his second $100 million film in a year, along with The Wedding Singer.

The company's production offices were formerly located in the Judy Garland Building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City but the company left after completion of Sandler's final contracted film for the studio, Pixels. Happy Madison, Inc. the parent company of Happy Madison Productions is run by Adam Sandler's brother Scott and is located in Manchester, New Hampshire.[4]

In 2002, the company expanded its operations onto television with a pilot commitment at The WB.[5] After fifteen years, head Doug Robinson would leave the company to start its own at Sony Pictures Television.[6]

Its subsidiary Madison 23 Productions was aimed towards the drama genre. It only produced two films Reign Over Me and Funny People, which both starred Sandler. Another subsidiary was Scary Madison Productions, which was aimed towards the horror genre and only produced the film The Shortcut.

Happy Madison Productions's title card (2005–present) with Adam Sandler's father Stanley holding a golf club and the glass broken causing a fourth wall break. Usually, his father also says "terrific."

Filmography

Film
Year Title Director Budget Gross
(worldwide)		 Notes Ref.
1999 Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo Mike Mitchell $17 million $92.9 million with Out of the Blue... Entertainment and Touchstone Pictures; distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
2000 Little Nicky Steven Brill $85 million $58.3 million with The Robert Simonds Company; distributed by New Line Cinema
2001 Joe Dirt Dennie Gordon $17.7 million $31 million with Robert Simonds Productions and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
The Animal Luke Greenfield $47 million $84.8 million with Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
2002 Mr. Deeds Steven Brill $50 million $171.3 million with Out of the Blue... Entertainment, New Line Cinema, and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
The Master of Disguise Perry Andelin Blake $16 million $43.4 million with Revolution Studios, Out of the Blue Entertainment and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Eight Crazy Nights Seth Kearsley $34 million $23.8 million with Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
The Hot Chick Tom Brady $34 million $54.6 million with Touchstone Pictures; distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
2003 Anger Management Peter Segal $75 million $195.7 million with Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star Sam Weisman $17 million $23.8 million distributed by Paramount Pictures
2004 50 First Dates Peter Segal $75 million $198.5 million with Flower Films, Anonymous Content, and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
2005 The Longest Yard $90 million $191.5 million with Callahan Filmworks, MTV Films, Paramount Pictures, and Columbia Pictures; distributed in USA & Canada by Paramount Pictures Distribution and internationally by Sony Pictures Releasing (via Sony Pictures Releasing International)
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo Mike Bigelow $22 million $45.1 million with Out of the Blue... Entertainment and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
2006 Grandma's Boy Nicholaus Goossen $5 million $6.6 million with Level 1 Entertainment; distributed in USA/Canada by 20th Century Fox and internationally by Summit Entertainment
The Benchwarmers Dennis Dugan $33 million $65 million with Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Click Frank Coraci $82.5 million $240.7 million with Original Film, Revolution Studios, and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
2007 Reign Over Me Mike Binder $20 million $22.2 million with Sunlight Productions, Relativity Media, and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Dennis Dugan $85 million $187.1 million with Shady Acres Entertainment and Relativity Media; distributed by Universal Pictures Distribution
2008 Strange Wilderness Fred Wolf $20 million $6.9 million with Level 1 Entertainment; distributed by Paramount Pictures Distribution
You Don't Mess with the Zohan Dennis Dugan $90 million $204.3 million with Smigel/Dugan Productions, Relativity Media, and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
The House Bunny Fred Wolf $25 million $70.4 million with Alta Loma Entertainment, Relativity Media, and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Bedtime Stories Adam Shankman $80 million $212.9 million with Gunn Films, Conman & Izzy Productions, Offspring Entertainment, and Walt Disney Pictures; distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
2009 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Steve Carr $26 million $183.3 million with Relativity Media and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Funny People Judd Apatow $75 million $71.6 million with Apatow Productions, Relativity Media, Universal Pictures, and Columbia Pictures; distributed in USA/Canada by Sony Pictures Releasing and internationally by Universal Pictures
The Shortcut Nicholaus Goossen $1 million — as Scary Madison Productions; with Leomax; distributed by Leomax and Mind's Eye Entertainment
2010 Grown Ups Dennis Dugan $80 million $271.4 million with Relativity Media and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
2011 Just Go with It $80 million $215 million with Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Zookeeper Frank Coraci $80 million $169.8 million with Broken Road Productions, Hey Eddie Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star Tom Brady $10 million $2.5 million with Miles Deep Productions and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Jack and Jill Dennis Dugan $79 million $149 million with Broken Road Productions and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
2012 That's My Boy Sean Anders $70 million $57.7 million with Relativity Media and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Here Comes the Boom Frank Coraci $42 million $73.1 million with Broken Road Productions, Hey Eddie Productions, and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
2013 Grown Ups 2 Dennis Dugan $80 million $247 million with Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing [7]
2014 Blended Frank Coraci $40 million $128 million with Gulfstream Pictures and RatPac-Dune Entertainment; distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures [8]
2015 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Andy Fickman $30 million $107.6 million with Broken Road Productions, Hey Eddie Productions, LStar Capital, and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing [9]
Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser Fred Wolf $3.7 million — distributed by Crackle (through Sony Pictures Releasing) [10]
Pixels Chris Columbus $88 million $244.9 million with 1492 Pictures, LStar Capital, China Film Group Corporation, Film Croppers Entertainment, and Columbia Pictures; distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing [11]
The Ridiculous 6 Frank Coraci $60 million — distributed by Netflix
2016 The Do-Over Steven Brill $40 million —
2017 Sandy Wexler $24.3 million —
2018 The Week Of Robert Smigel — —
Father of the Year Tyler Spindel — — [12]
100% Fresh Steven Brill — —
2019 Murder Mystery Kyle Newacheck — — with Vinson Films, Endgame Entertainment, Mythology Entertainment, Denver and Delilah Productions, and Tower Hill Entertainment; distributed by Netflix
2020 The Wrong Missy Tyler Spindel — — distributed by Netflix [13]
Hubie Halloween Steven Brill — —
2022 Home Team Charles Kinnane
Daniel Kinnane		 — — with Hey Eddie Productions; distributed by Netflix
Hustle Jeremiah Zagar $21 million — with Roth/Kirschenbaum Films and SpringHill Company; distributed by Netflix [14]
2023 Murder Mystery 2 Jeremy Garelick — — with Echo Films, Mythology Entertainment, Vinson Films, and Endgame Entertainment; distributed by Netflix [15]
The Out-Laws Tyler Spindel — — distributed by Netflix [16]
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah Sammi Cohen — — with Alloy Entertainment; distributed by Netflix [17]
Leo Robert Smigel
Robert Marianetti
David Wachtenheim		 — — with Netflix Animation; distributed by Netflix [18]

Television
Year Title Network Notes Ref.
2007–2013 Rules of Engagement CBS with Game Six Productions, CBS Television Studios, and Sony Pictures Television
2008 The Gong Show with Dave Attell Comedy Central with Sony Pictures Television
2010–2011 Nick Swardson's Pretend Time with Culver Entertainment
2011–2012 Breaking In Fox with Adam F. Goldberg Productions and Sony Pictures Television
2013–2023 The Goldbergs ABC co-production with Adam F. Goldberg Productions (seasons 1–8), Doug Robinson Productions (seasons 5–10), Swinging Cricket Productions (season 9), Script L. Shannon, Inc. (season 9), This Episode is Entirely a Work of Fiction, LLC (season 10), and Sony Pictures Television
2017 Imaginary Mary co-production with Adam F. Goldberg Productions, ABC Studios, and Sony Pictures Television [19]
2019–2020 Schooled co-production with Adam F. Goldberg Productions, Marc Firek Productions, Doug Robinson Productions, ABC Studios, and Sony Pictures Television

Critical reception

Happy Madison's films have, for the most part, received overwhelmingly negative reviews, with most criticism targeted towards the crude humor, excessive product placement, celebrity cameos, and a sentimental ending that contradicts the film's mostly mean-spirited tone. Some drama films (Reign Over Me, Funny People, Hustle and You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah) received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with Sandler's performance garnering critical praise. The production company has put out four films considered to be some of the worst ever made, including two that have received a 0% score from Rotten Tomatoes.[20][21][22][23]

Year Film Rotten
Tomatoes		 Metacritic
1999 Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo 22% 30
2000 Little Nicky 22% 38
2001 Joe Dirt 11% 20
2001 The Animal 30% 43
2002 Mr. Deeds 22% 24
2002 The Master of Disguise 1% 12
2002 Eight Crazy Nights 12% 23
2002 The Hot Chick 22% 29
2003 Anger Management 42% 52
2003 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star 22% 36
2004 50 First Dates 45% 48
2005 The Longest Yard 31% 48
2005 Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo 9% 23
2006 Grandma's Boy 16% 33
2006 The Benchwarmers 11% 25
2006 Click 33% 45
2007 Reign Over Me 64% 61
2007 I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry 14% 37
2008 Strange Wilderness 2% 12
2008 You Don't Mess with the Zohan 37% 54
2008 The House Bunny 43% 55
2008 Bedtime Stories 26% 33
2009 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 33% 39
2009 Funny People 69% 60
2009 The Shortcut N/A N/A
2010 Grown Ups 10% 30
2011 Just Go with It 19% 33
2011 Zookeeper 14% 30
2011 Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star 3% 9
2011 Jack and Jill 3% 23
2012 That's My Boy 20% 31
2012 Here Comes the Boom 40% 40
2013 Grown Ups 2 7% 19
2014 Blended 14% 31
2015 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 5% 14
2015 Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser 10% N/A
2015 Pixels 17% 27
2015 The Ridiculous 6 0% 18
2016 The Do-Over 10% 22
2017 Sandy Wexler 27% 39
2018 The Week Of 27% 41
2018 Father of the Year 0% N/A
2018 100% Fresh 90% N/A
2019 Murder Mystery 45% 38
2020 The Wrong Missy 31% 35
2020 Hubie Halloween 52% 53
2022 Home Team 22% 23
2022 Hustle 92% 68
2023 Murder Mystery 2 44% 44
2023 The Out-Laws 21% 36
2023 You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah 91% 71

References
  1. "Adam Sandler". Variety. 13 October 2013. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  2. "100% Fresh Trailer Teases Adam Sandler's Netflix Variety Special". Screen Rant. 2018-10-16. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
  3. Locke, Taylor (2019-12-07). "Adam Sandler on being fired from 'Saturday Night Live' in 1995 before achieving massive success". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
  4. "New Hampshire Secretary of State Corporate Information for Happy Madison, Inc". Archived from the original on 2021-03-05. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  5. Schneider, Michael (2002-10-04). "Frog leaps on laffer from Sandler shingle". Variety. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  6. Otterson, Joe (2017-07-17). "Doug Robinson Leaves Happy Madison for Overall Deal at Sony TV, Launches New Production Company". Variety. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  7. "Grown Ups Sequel Planned". ComingSoon.net. 7 December 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
  8. "Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore Comedy Blended Set For May 23, 2014". ComingSoon.net. April 24, 2013. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  9. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Set for April 17, 2015". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  10. "David Spade is Back for Joe Dirt 2!". Comingsoon.net. 11 October 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  11. "Look out, Adam Sandler! It's Donkey Kong's Space Invading Frogger!". Entertainment Weekly. November 10, 2010. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  12. N'Duka, Amanda (3 May 2017). "David Spade, Bridgit Mendler, Nat Faxon, & More Co-Star In 'Who Do You Think Would Win?' For Netflix". Deadline. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  13. Vlessing, Etan (10 January 2019). "New David Spade-Starring, Adam Sandler-Produced Netflix Movie Finds Director". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  14. "Adam Sandler's Next Netflix Movie Can Break Happy Madison's Losing Streak". ScreenRant. 2021-05-06. Archived from the original on 2021-05-27. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
  15. Galuppo, Mia (24 January 2022). "Jodie Turner-Smith, Mark Strong Join Netflix's 'Murder Mystery 2'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  16. Kroll, Justin (12 July 2021). "Pierce Brosnan Joins Adam Devine in Netflix's Action-Comedy 'The Out-Laws'; Tyler Spindel To Direct". Deadline. Archived from the original on 31 October 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  17. Grobar, Matt (July 13, 2022). "Adam Sandler, Idina Menzel & 'SNL's Sarah Sherman Among Cast Set For Netflix's YA Comedy 'You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah'; Happy Madison & Alloy Entertainment Producing". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  18. Moore, Kasey (January 18, 2023). "Netflix Picks Up Adam Sandler Animated Movie 'Leo'; Releases in November 2023". What's on Netflix. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  19. Andreeva, Nellie (May 12, 2016). "Drama 'Notorious', Comedy 'Imaginary Mary' Picked Up To Series At ABC". Deadline. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  20. "The tragedy of Adam Sandler". Salon. 2011-11-14. Archived from the original on 2013-08-21. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  21. "Comedy about middle school statutory rape? Does Adam Sandler's That's My Boy go too far?". Fox News. 2012-04-30. Archived from the original on 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  22. "Is Adam Sandler Serious With That's My Boy? | DrJays.com Live | Fashion. Music. Lifestyle". Live.drjays.com. 2012-05-21. Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
  23. "Adam Sandler's new movie That's My Boy exploits child victims of sexual assault. Please boycott the movie. | National Coalition For Men". NCFM. 2 May 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
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