“You’re dead, Shooter!” – Happy Gilmore is BACK!

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Happy Gilmore hitting cinemas in the US.

The raucous story of a failed ice-hockey star who discovers that his powerful slap-shot on the rink translates into monstrous drives on the golf course, the movie was a huge commercial success.

It went straight in at No.2 at the US box office on its first weekend with $8.5m in revenue. Made for just $12m, it went on to gross a total of $41.2 million worldwide.

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It also made a bona fide silver screen star out of its leading man, Saturday Night Live regular Adam Sandler.

Over the last quarter of a century, Sandler has gone on to star in a string of huge hits, including The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy, 50 First Dates and Grown Ups. However, his fondness for Happy clearly hasn’t gone away. 

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the film’s release, Canada-born Sandler posted a video of himself recreating Happy’s idiosyncratic “run-up” swing to Twitter.

“Okay, it’s been 25 years since I’ve done this,” says Sandler in the clip. “Let’s see what happens. I’m scared. Shooter McGavin, this is for you.”

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After crunching his drive, he says: “I’m not lying to you that is smashed. Smashed. That went pretty well. You’re dead, Shooter.”

Watch for yourself:

Although we can’t see where Sandler’s drive ends up, it certainly sounds like he hit it flush. 

All of which has got us thinking… surely it’s time for a Happy Gilmore sequel. Maybe something mainly set on the Senior Tour, but with a cameo from the real-life Happy GIlmore, Bryson DeChambeau?

And yeah – Grizzly Adams did have a beard.

Update!

Shooter has responded…