Happy Madison Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, two box office successes starring Sandler himself, both produced by Robert Simonds. The elderly man depicted in the production logo is Sandler's late father, Stanley, who also says the accompanying audio, "Terrific."
In addition to various Sandler-produced films, the company has also released films produced by others, such as Steven Brill (Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds), Dennis Dugan (The Benchwarmers, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Grown Ups, Grown Ups 2), Frank Coraci (Click, Zookeeper, Blended), Fred Wolf (Strange Wilderness, The House Bunny), Tom Brady (The Animal, The Hot Chick, Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star), Peter Segal (Anger Management, 50 First Dates, The Longest Yard), and Nicholaus Goossen (A Day with the Meatball, Grandma's Boy, The Shortcut).
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 office is located in the Judy Garland Building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City while its corporate and parent company offices (Happy Madison, Inc.) are located in Manchester, New Hampshire run by Adam's brother Scott.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Director | Distributor | Budget | Gross (worldwide) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo | Mike Mitchell | Buena Vista Pictures (Touchstone Pictures) | $17 million | $92,938,755 |
| 2000 | Little Nicky | Steven Brill | New Line Cinema | $85 million | $58,292,295 |
| 2001 | Joe Dirt | Dennie Gordon | Columbia Pictures | $17.7 million | $30,987,695 |
| The Animal | Luke Greenfield | $47 million | $84,772,742 | ||
| 2002 | Mr. Deeds | Steven Brill | $50 million | $171,269,535 | |
| The Master of Disguise | Perry Andelin Blake | $16 million | $43,411,001 | ||
| Eight Crazy Nights | Seth Kearsley | $34 million | $23,833,131 | ||
| The Hot Chick | Tom Brady | Buena Vista Pictures (Touchstone Pictures) | $34 million | $54,639,553 | |
| 2003 | Anger Management | Peter Segal | Columbia Pictures | $75 million | $195,745,823 |
| Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star | Sam Weisman | Paramount Pictures | $17 million | $23,794,648 | |
| 2004 | 50 First Dates | Peter Segal | Columbia Pictures | $75 million | $196,482,882 |
| 2005 | The Longest Yard | Paramount Pictures/Columbia Pictures | $82 million | $190,320,588 | |
| Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo | Mike Bigelow | Columbia Pictures | $22 million | $45,109,561 | |
| 2006 | Grandma's Boy | Nicholaus Goossen | 20th Century Fox | $5.5 million | $37,856,991 |
| The Benchwarmers | Dennis Dugan | Columbia Pictures | $33 million | $64,957,291 | |
| Click | Frank Coraci | $82.5 million | $237,681,299 | ||
| 2007 | Reign Over Me | Mike Binder | $20 million | $22,222,308 | |
| I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry | Dennis Dugan | Universal Pictures | $85 million | $186,072,214 | |
| 2008 | Strange Wilderness | Fred Wolf | Paramount Pictures | $20 million | $6,964,734 |
| You Don't Mess with the Zohan | Dennis Dugan | Columbia Pictures | $90 million | $201,802,891 | |
| The House Bunny | Fred Wolf | $25 million | $70,442,940 | ||
| Bedtime Stories | Adam Shankman | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (Walt Disney Pictures) | $80 million | $212,874,442 | |
| 2009 | Paul Blart: Mall Cop | Steve Carr | Columbia Pictures | $26 million | $183,293,131 |
| Funny People | Judd Apatow | Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures | $75 million | $71,585,235 | |
| The Shortcut | Nicholaus Goossen | Leomax | $1 million | N/A | |
| 2010 | Grown Ups | Dennis Dugan | Columbia Pictures | $80 million | $271,419,251 |
| 2011 | Just Go with It | $80 million | $214,945,591 | ||
| Zookeeper | Frank Coraci | $80 million | $169,852,759 | ||
| Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star | Tom Brady | $10 million | $2,529,395 | ||
| Jack and Jill | Dennis Dugan | $79 million | $149,673,788 | ||
| 2012 | That's My Boy | Sean Anders | $70 million | $57,719,093 | |
| Here Comes the Boom | Frank Coraci | $42 million | $73,100,172 | ||
| 2013 | Grown Ups 2 | Dennis Dugan | $80 million | $246,645,494 | |
| 2014 | Blended | Frank Coraci | Warner Bros. | $40 million | $126,794,610 |
| 2015 | Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 | Andy Fickman | Columbia Pictures | $30 million | $103,700,000 |
| Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser | Fred Wolf | Crackle | N/A | N/A | |
| Pixels | Chris Columbus | Columbia Pictures | $88 million | $244,900,000 | |
| The Ridiculous 6 | Frank Coraci | Netflix | $60 million | N/A | |
| 2016 | The Do-Over | Steven Brill | $40 million | ||
| 2017 | Sandy Wexler | N/A | |||
| 2018 | The Week Of | Robert Smigel | |||
| Father of the Year | Tyler Spindel | ||||
| 2019 | Murder Mystery | Kyle Newacheck | |||
| TBD | Untitled Animated Film | TBA | STX Entertainment |
Critical reception[]
Happy Madison's films have, for the most part, received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics. The production company has put out three films considered to be some of the worst ever made.
| Year | Film | Rotten Tomatoes |
Metacritic |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo | 23% | 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 | 43% | 52 |
| 2003 | Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star | 23% | 36 |
| 2004 | 50 First Dates | 44% | 48 |
| 2005 | The Longest Yard | 31% | 48 |
| 2005 | Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo | 9% | 23 |
| 2006 | Grandma's Boy | 18% | 33 |
| 2006 | The Benchwarmers | 11% | 25 |
| 2006 | Click | 32% | 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 | 42% | 55 |
| 2008 | Bedtime Stories | 25% | 33 |
| 2009 | Paul Blart: Mall Cop | 33% | 39 |
| 2009 | Funny People | 68% | 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 | 0% | 9 |
| 2011 | Jack and Jill | 3% | 23 |
| 2012 | That's My Boy | 20% | 31 |
| 2012 | Here Comes the Boom | 38% | 40 |
| 2013 | Grown Ups 2 | 7% | 19 |
| 2014 | Blended | 14% | 31 |
| 2015 | Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 | 6% | 14 |
| 2015 | Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser | 10% | N/A |
| 2015 | Pixels | 17% | 27 |
| 2015 | The Ridiculous 6 | 0% | 18 |
| 2016 | The Do-Over | 5% | 22 |
| 2017 | Sandy Wexler | 32% | 39 |
| 2018 | The Week Of | 22% | 41 |
| 2018 | Father of the Year | 0% | N/A |
Television[]
- Rules of Engagement, 2007–13, with Game Six Productions, CBS Television Studios, and Sony Pictures Television
- The Gong Show with Dave Attell, 2008
- Nick Swardson's Pretend Time, 2010–11, with Culver Entertainment
- Breaking In, 2011–12, with Adam F. Goldberg Productions and Sony Pictures Television
- The Goldbergs, 2013–present, with Adam F. Goldberg Productions and Sony Pictures Television
- Imaginary Mary, 2017, with Adam F. Goldberg Productions, ABC Studios, and Sony Pictures Television
- Schooled, 2019, with Adam F. Goldberg Productions, ABC Studios, and Sony Pictures Television