Adam Sandler said he had to rewrite Happy Gilmore 2 following Carl Weathers ‘ death. The actor and comedian, who is reprising his role as Happy Gilmore in the sequel to his beloved 1996 sports comedy, recently told Collider that Weathers’ Derick “Chubbs” Peterson was planning to return for the new movie before he died last year at age 76 .

While Happy Gilmore 2 didn't exactly go through "development hell" like so many other movies have through the years, there was one unfortunate setback that forced filmmaker Adam Sandler to make sweeping changes mid-production.

“Carl Weathers had a massive part,” Sandler, 58, confirmed. Weathers, who died at age 76 on Feb. 1, 2024, played the one-handed Derick "Chubbs" Peterson — mentor to Sandler’s titular hockey player-turned-golfer — in the 1996 sports comedy.