Adam Sandler has set up his next Netflix comedy, and Chris Rock is joining him. They'll star in The Week Of, a comedy that will be directed by frequent Happy Madison collaborator Robert Smigel.
The picture will shoot on Long Island this summer and will cover the week of preparation for a wedding in which Sandler's character's daughter marries Rock's character's son. Sandler and Allen Covert will produce for Happy Madison, and Barry Bernardi and Tim Herlihy will be exec producers. Sandler co-wrote the comedy with Smigel, who is best known for playing Triumph the Insult Comic Dog but also has been collaborating with Sandler since Saturday Night Live. Smigel has played characters in most of his early films and was a writer on such Sandler vehicles as Grown Ups, which also starred Rock.
This is the fourth and final film in the first deal Sandler made to generate comedy vehicles exclusive to Netflix, a pact that was renewed last month. The latest of those films, Sandy Wexler, launched last week, with Netflix saying all three have been among its biggest releases, though the service doesn't provide specific viewership breakdowns. Netflix is staked not only in Sandler (Netflix acquired the Cannes-bound Noah Baumbach-directed The Meyerowitz Stories, starring Sandler, Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller and Emma Thompson — but also in Rock. Netflix paid around $40 million for Rock to return to the stand up stage for the first time in eight years for two comedy specials that will air exclusively on the streaming service. That amount is the high water mark for comedy specials. Now, Netflix has a Rock narrative comedy vehicle as well. The Week Of will premiere on Netflix globally in 2018.
