Adam Sandler Wants To Beat Black Dynamite To Making A Comedy Western, With 'Ridiculous 6'
Last we heard about the possible sequel to Black Dynamite, Michael Jai White was saying that they were designing the sequel as "a western comedy in that spirit of Blazing Saddles." But whenever that happens, and I very much hope that it does, there might already be competition from another western comedy.
I don't want to damn this one before it is even written, but Adam Sandler will co-write the film, called Ridiculous 6, which seems to be a play on The Magnificent Seven.
Deadline says Sandler and Tim Herlihy will write, with Sandler starring and producing. Paramount plans to release the film over spring break weekend in 2014. (Is Spring Break an official calendar holiday now?)
As the site says, Herlihy and Sandler worked together on films like Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, Little Nicky and Mr. Deeds — i.e. the first and best stage of Sandler's film career, and the films of what you might call his second act as a movie star. But Sandler and Herlihy have continued to work on films up to the present day, so it's not like they're just linked for Sandler's earliest, better movies.
Sure, there's reason to think that Sandler could get comedy out of a western setup, or out of a Magnificent Seven knock-off. That is, there's reason to think that if you ignore the guy's recent films. Those movies make money, so there might not be any real reason to break from the pattern they set. But maybe the move from Sony to Paramount will do something; could we dare hope that Paramount will exert a little more control over the project?