“Life’s a garden…dig it!” That’s right, “Joe Dirt” is coming back in a brand new sequel!
Earlier this month we reported that Adam Sandler had exclusive films coming to Netflix and now David Spade has the “Joe Dirt” sequel coming exclusively to Sony’s streaming service Crackle according to The Hollywood Reporter. This venture supplements the “digital movement” of film releases with multiple streaming services securing exclusive content. At the moment Adam Sandler seems to be capitalizing the most on these ventures with “Joe Dirt 2” falling under his umbrella of Happy Madison Productions.
Comedian David Spade is reprising his role as Joe Dirt and has re-teamed with Fred Wolf to co-write and executive produce the project. Wolf will direct the film, which will be produced by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions.
Joe Dirt 2 will pick up where the first comedy left off and will follow the misadventures of the mullet-clad redneck.
“Joe Dirt” had a strong cult following and performed much better than expected post box office numbers. With guest appearances from Christopher Walken, Kid Rock, and Dennis Miller, there were a variety of characters to keep audiences entertained. Despite how entertaining the first film may have been, I think a sequel is a rather abrupt announcement with the first film reaching seamless closure with a happy ending. But, if there’s one genre that can justify an abrupt sequel, then it is comedy.
Outside of the announcement of the “Joe Dirt” sequel, I find it very interesting to see another Happy Madison Productions film being announced on an exclusive streaming platform. Adam Sandler has expressed his lack of interest in quality films with his reasoning for filming his last few being the location and getting “free vacations.” I’m sure that he’s making even more “easy money” by selling films to digital streaming companies but at what expense?
Although I welcome the ease of viewing films in a streaming format, I hope that Adam Sandler’s arguably “lazy venture” does not impact the average movie-goer by influencing other Hollywood greats to follow in Sandler’s footsteps. I would greatly miss the theater going experience if streaming media created a drive-in like extinction.