We've long lamented the evolution of Adam Sandler from the guy who made us laugh with stupid-funny stuff like "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore" to the guy who basically gets paid vacations in dreck like "Just Go With It" and "Grown Ups." But every now and then, Sandler will lift his pudgy frame off the couch and actually try. Hopefully, pairing him up with the nimble and constantly improvising Will Ferrell will help him step up his game.
Vulture reports that due to a variety of factors (we'll get to those in a second) Sandler will be replacing Mark Wahlberg in the brewing football comedy "Three Mississippi." The film will tell the tale of a 50-year feud between two families over an annual Thanksgiving touch football game, where Sandler's team always loses. Sports-based movies are nothing new for either Sandler or Ferrell, and the first big screen pairing between the two "Saturday Night Live" veterans will certainly be a major selling point for the flick (though Wahlberg in comedy mode is always a blast). So why the switch up?
Well, Wahlberg recently signed on to Peter Berg's "Lone Survivor," and with that movie now securing financing based on the actor making it his next film, it will roll in front cameras this fall right around the same time as "Three Mississippi" is slated to shoot. And while Ferrell's regular collaborator Adam McKay was originally set to direct the movie, with "Anchorman 2" now moving full steam ahead for what David Koechner told ScreenCrush will be a February 2013 shoot, he will be too busy prepping that sequel to helm this picture. So in stepped "Sex Drive" and "That's My Boy" director Sean Anders, and having just directed Sandler in the latter….well, you can connect the dots from there.
So in summary: Wahlberg out, Sandler in. Fingers crossed this lives up to all the promise that a Sandler/Ferrell pairing could bring to the table.
