Griffith Park sets scene for a Sandler comedy
Griffith Park has a long tradition of filmmaking, drawing the likes of James Dean and Adam West to its scenic backdrops.
Now it’s Adam Sandler’s turn to set up camp in one of Hollywood’s most popular film sites.
More than 100 cast, crew members and extras from the Netflix comedy “Sandy Wexler” filmed scenes at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles on Monday, according to a permit from FilmL.A., a nonprofit that tracks location filming on streets and noncertified sound stages in the city and county.
Sandler plays the eponymous lead character, a talent manager working in Los Angeles in the 1990s who falls in love with a client, Courtney Clarke (played by Jennifer Hudson), a singer he discovers at an amusement park.
“Sandy Wexler” reunites Happy Madison Productions with director Steven Brill (who also directed “The Do-Over”), a Netflix representative said via email. The cast includes Terry Crews, Rob Schneider, Nick Swardson, Lamorne Morris, Arsenio Hall and Colin Quinn. The film is slated for release in 2017.
The Happy Madison production began filming recently and has permits pending to shoot again in L.A. next week and in September. The film is the third in a four-movie deal Sandler has with Netflix. “Sandy Wexler” follows this year’s “The Do-Over” and “The Ridiculous 6,” released in 2015.
Other productions in the works across the city include the Fox TV series “Bones,” which filmed this week in Pacific Palisades; “Brooklyn NineNine,” which shot scenes in Studio City; and “Rosewood,” which filmed in downtown Los Angeles.
Overall location filming remained virtually flat last week. Location filming of commercials, films, and TV shows generated 503 shoot days, about the same as the same period a year ago, according to data from FilmL.A. reviewed by The Times. Shoot days for commercials decreased 27% and features dropped 1% this week from the year-ago period. Activity for television increased 8%.