- Adam Sandler said Netflix asked him to move his new film’s setting from China to Spain.
- According to Sandler, the request was made because Netflix is currently unavailable in China.
- “Somehow, Netflix is not in China,” he said.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Adam Sandler says
Netflix
asked him to change the plot and location of his upcoming sports comedy from China to Spain because the streamer isn’t available in the Asian country.
In the forthcoming comedy “Hustle,” Sandler plays a basketball agent who attempts to revive his failing career by recruiting an extraordinary overseas talent to the NBA. In the final version of the film, Sandler’s character recruits a promising player from Spain, played by real-life Memphis Grizzlies star Juancho Hernangomez.
During an interview on “The Dan Patrick Show,” however, Sandler said: “It was written originally that I find a player in China and somehow, Netflix is not in China. So they were like, ‘Would you guys please make it so we find someone in Latin America or Europe?'”
“So the next thing you know,” Sandler added, “I’m in Majorca [Spain].”
Netflix
Despite growing success in other parts of Asia such as Japan, Netflix is currently unavailable in China — the world’s second-largest economy after the US. The streamer is also unavailable in Crimea, North Korea, and Syria. Last year, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told CNBC that the company was not focused on cracking the Chinese market.
“We got turned down by the Chinese government several years ago. And we have not been spending any time on China in the last couple years,” he said. “There’s so much opportunity for us in Asia, the rest of Asia — India, in particular, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and then all through Europe and Latin America.”
Later in his interview with “The Dan Patrick Show,” Sandler said Grizzlies player Juancho Hernangomez out-acted him in every scene they filmed together.
“[Hernangómez] acts better than me in every scene,” Sandler said. “It’s just like, god damn it. This guy is falling, crying in the middle of a scene, doing the right thing. Every joke he says, I’m like, ‘He said it smoother than I would have.'”
“Hustle” is Sandler’s seventh collaboration with Netflix. The actor-comedian signed a production deal with the streamer in 2014, and according to Netflix, the partnership has been a successful tool in attracting audiences. In 2019, the company said Sandler’s comedy “Murder Mystery” starring Jennifer Aniston was the most popular film on Netflix in the US and one of the most popular films in eight other countries.
Last year, Netflix announced the extension of its partnership with Sandler and that it would produce four additional movies with the comedian.
“Hustle,” which is yet to receive a release date, is also set to star Queen Latifah and Robert Duvall. LA Lakers forward LeBron James — who recently starred in the “Space Jam” sequel — is also a producer on the film.