Something About Sandler

A new generation of comedy stars is breaking out this fall--sometimes in the strangest places.

With the astonishing $39-million opening weekend of “The Waterboy,” Adam Sandler has become a certified star. And if Chris Tucker, the star of another unexpected hit, “Rush Hour,” looks to be the next Eddie Murphy, Sandler appears to be the heir-apparent to the Jim Carrey low-comedy throne.

Former Disney Touchstone chief Donald De Line bought “Waterboy” on a pitch from Sandler while the comedian was still making “The Wedding Singer,” which turned into an $80-million hit. De Line brought along “Singer’s” director Frank Coraci for insurance.

After the relative sophistication of “Singer,” “Waterboy” is a reversion to Sandler’s classic outsider character.

De Line and others cite Sandler’s underdog quality and a core of vulnerability that distinguishes him from most comic actors working today. Unlike some of his fellow “Saturday Night Live” alums like Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Murphy and David Spade, Sandler’s humor lacks a cynical or ironic edge, which explains the broadness of his appeal, especially with younger teenage males.

“That’s because Adam’s movies reflect his personality,” says Sandler’s longtime producer Robert Simonds. “He co-writes them and has his finger in all aspects of production. Because he’s sensitive and kind at his core, his movies are infused with a good-natured quality.”

Disney Chairman Joe Roth leapt at the opportunity to land Sandler while he was on the rise and still cost-effective “ ‘Waterboy’ was a funny idea and easy to digest,” says Roth. And it only cost $23.5 million, far below the industry average for a major studio movie.

Two of Sandler’s previous films, “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore,” garnered him a strong male following, according to Simonds. But neither of those films grossed as much as “Waterboy” in its opening weekend. “ ‘Wedding Singer’ was his breakout film,” according to De Line, who said the romantic comedy brought women into Sandler’s comedy camp.

Simonds is part of Sandler’s creative team and has been involved with all of his movies. And while he was surprised by “Waterboy’s” opening numbers, he has noticed a Sandler groundswell building since 1995’s “Billy Madison.”

Simonds spoke to the notoriously press-shy comedian over the weekend and said Sandler’s reaction to the news has been “really levelheaded, like, it feels good but doesn’t really change anything. We still have a lot of work to do on upcoming projects and it’s important not to get ahead of ourselves.”

Sandler’s next film will take him in a different direction. In “Big Daddy,” which he is currently shooting for Sony, he plays a single man who adopts a child. It is the first project he has not developed, although the director Dennis Dugan and Sandler worked together on “Gilmore.”

Sandler’s first big payday film, for which he’ll receive $12 million, is an untitled project that Simonds refers to as “the devil movie.” The New Line project is the story of a man whose mother was an angel and his father a devil and who must come to terms with both sides of his nature.