‘Hustle' on Netflix: Adam Sandler's wife Jackie broke a long-running tradition for sports drama film

Adam Sandler's daughter Sunny appears in 'Hustle' briefly and is credited as 'Greek 13-Year-Old Girl'
UPDATED FEB 20, 2023
It is more like a tradition at this point that Adam Sandler's entire family does a cameo in his films, especially his wife Jackie Sandler (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Netflix)
It is more like a tradition at this point that Adam Sandler's entire family does a cameo in his films, especially his wife Jackie Sandler (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Netflix)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Adam Sandler is a household name for great comedy movies. Known to be creating comedy gems and delivering chuckles since the last three decades, from 'Happy Gilmore' and 'Billy Madison' to '50 First Dates' and 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry' and beyond. Interestingly, Adam Sandler was the first of many A-listers who signed a deal to make movies for Netflix in 2014. The deal was renewed and extended in 2017 for $250 million for four movies. Sandler raised the deal to $275 million for four movies for the OTT channel. 

'Murder Mystery' was one of the movies on the list of Netflix's deals. The movie was released in 2019 and was one of the most-streamed movies on Netflix for the year. Sandler has recently been doing some ground-breaking work with his movie choices, although it's really bold and prominent, it did break a decade-long streak of Adam's wife, Jackie Sandler, not featuring in his new project 'Hustle'. 

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Is Jackie Sandler in 'Hustle'?

Jackie Sandler and Adam Sandler attend the 2022 Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on November 28, 2022 in New York City.
Jackie Sandler and Adam Sandler attend the 2022 Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on November 28, 2022, in New York City  (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The Gotham Film & Media Institute)

It is more like a tradition at this point that Adam Sandler's entire family does a cameo in his films, especially his wife Jackie. But it seems like Jackie missed out on this one. Although Sandler's daughter Sunny appears in 'Hustle' briefly and is credited as 'Greek 13-Year-Old Girl'. As the SNL alum is going through a genre change and is seen exploring projects that are out of his initial comedy line. 'Hustle' swerves more into the realm of a classic sports drama. The basketball drama is gathering some of the best critic reviews of Sandler's entire career and continues the bold journey that began with 2019's American crime thriller film 'Uncut Gems'. The sports drama features many known basketball players from Juancho Hernangómez and Anthony Edwards, to the film being co-produced by LeBron James. 'Hustle' tells a straightforward tale of following one's dreams and doing so while carrying failures like a badge of honor. 

Happy Madison production's strong comedy genre

(L-R) Adam Sandler and Jackie Sandler attend the Netflix World Premiere of
(L-R) Adam Sandler and Jackie Sandler attend the Netflix World Premiere of 'Hustle' at Regency Village Theatre on June 01, 2022, in Los Angeles, California (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Netflix)

'Hustle' breaks the lengthy streak, as it didn't feature Jackie, unlike every Happy Madison production. Adam and Jackie met in the most romantic way when their eyes met working in the 1999 movie 'Big Daddy', since then the duo has been seen together in an ample number of movies. From 'Little Nicky' and '50 First Dates' to 'Murder Mystery' and 'Hubie Halloween' features the duo. The couple's daughters, Sadie and Sunny, also get in on the whole saga of doing a cameo in his movies. The absence of Jackie might point out the fact that Happy Madison production's strong genre is a comedy, and it's also their own production company that makes Adam and Jackie the ideal people to make decisions about the cast. As 'Hustle' is a non-Happy-Madison production, the actor has less say in who appears in the cast.  

Although it did break the streak for the Sandler family, it might be a significant break from a decade-long tradition. This might mean that Adam is finally out of the "funny guy" genre and into exploring some serious roles. 

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