[THIS STORY CONTAINS MURDER FROM NETFLIX Spoilers for Mystery 2.]
Adam Sandler just passed Murder Mystery 2 widened his circle of comedy filmmakers.
New Netflix action comedy is follow-up to streamer Kyle Newacheck’s film with Jeremy Garelick at the helm. Sandler and 
Jennifer Aniston reprises her roles as Nick and Audrey Spitz, who are now private investigators and find themselves reeling They go to Paris after their friend Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar) is kidnapped at his own wedding. Mark Strong, Melanie Loren and Jodie Turner-Smith also star.
Garelick is known for directing 1477661725 and other films Known as
The Wedding Ringer, Kevin Hart’s early starring vehicle, and 2015Teen Comedy Orgies
, but Murder Mystery 2 definitely includes his biggest action movie to date, when the movie involves someone jumping from the Eiffel Tower When thrown, it makes sense. Garelick, also known for his script work over the years, has worked with Aniston on her 1296 Comedy The Break-Up , which he co-wrote but only briefly known Sandler, Sandler is known for bringing support to the comedy director from his past projects. But, as Garelick explains, the two quickly bonded.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter
, Garelick discusses why he ended up lying Coming to Aniston to help her make a point, how he and Sandler came up with this rare sequel for the actor, when he learned that Charlize Theron was executive producing, he was interested in the comedy film and why he has mixed feelings about writing a screenplay for hangover.
I know you did unauthorized writing work on The Hangover, I remember reading Going through the original draft and comparing it to the finished film, they are so different. I’ve always been impressed with these additions, and am surprised you don’t get credit. So I just need to start with that.
This means a lot to me. [Director] Todd [Phillips] also didn’t get writing credits. We have devoted so much of our lives to this. It’s definitely a highlight and a low light. So, thanks — I appreciate you saying that.
With Murder Mystery 2, is the first movie Director, Kyle Newacheck, is it possible to join, or how did you get involved with directing?
Honestly, I started this production company called American High, where I bought New York State A high school up north, we’ve been doing low-budget high school comedies for the last five years or so. I think we are close 17 Movie. This came out of nowhere. I got a call from my agent saying, “Hey, do you want to direct Murder Mystery 2 with Adam and Jen?” I was like, “Of course.” I had a bunch of meetings with the producers, then Jen, then Adam, and then I got the job. I am looking forward to this opportunity. As for Kyle, I don’t know what to expect and don’t want to ask about those things.
Adam Sandler is known for his loyalty to the director, and has collaborated with some of the same filmmakers on multiple projects. This is your first film together, how did it build trust?
Really the first time he called me after reading a few pages I wrote and he was at laugh. At that moment, for me, I felt confident, “Well, Adam Sandler is laughing at what I just wrote, so I feel good.” And then once we started filming, I actually had an infection two days ago COVID. The preparation for this is insane. We are getting ready in Hawaii and Paris and they are 008 We have two crews a few hours apart from each other. For the first three days, I had to FaceTime into a monitor in my hotel room. That’s not great for confidence. But after I got fit, we started having fun.
What kind of involvement did you and Sandler have in the writing process?
James [Vanderbilt] wrote a draft and got everybody to say, “Okay, Let’s see what we can do.” Then I got drafts, I made a few revisions to the script, and then once we got it approved, Adam and [frequent collaborator] Tim [Herlihy] added a lot of jokes. We work together and it’s been a really fun process.
Sandler has shown resistance to sequels for years, except for Grownups 2. Is there a process to make sure this one feels different than the first one?
When Todd and I sat brainstorming The Hangover 2, we started out by just saying, “Okay, what are some good comedy sequels?” Quality sequel. When I saw this opportunity and read the script, for me, I really wanted to treat it like a new movie and say, “Whether you saw the first movie or not, you can watch it. This movie.” I try to keep the structure of a movie and don’t make too many references to the original film, only later, after we’ve done a few drafts, do I go back and reference some of the original film. Either way, you can enjoy it.
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Jeremy Garelick, Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler attend the Murder Mystery 2 premiere. Frazier Harrison/Getty Images 1477661725
What was the exterior filming of the Eiffel Tower like?
That was so much fun and so challenging. The big action sequences are in the original script. Then we went through endless storyboards. I animated it so we could watch the film as a cartoon and edited it with music, voices, and voices of the actors. So I was really able to edit, re-edit, re-write, re-shoot before we started shooting the Eiffel Tower. Once everyone was on the same page, we had to figure out how to get permission to shoot at the Eiffel Tower, which was crazy. Perry Blake, our incredible production designer, built an almost exact replica of the top three floors of the Eiffel Tower on stage in Paris. We have an incredible visual effects team and an incredible stunt team. I think we were the first film to do a stunt on the Eiffel Tower, and stuntman Kelly Phelan was the first woman to rappel down the Eiffel Tower.
What was it like directing these two superstars?
I previously worked with Jennifer on a film called The Break-Up movie of. She’s amazing – and Adam. They’re professional; they’re so fast. Adam is such a perfectionist. He works very hard. He would work harder than everyone, and he would stay on set, even after he was done shooting, taking notes. He’s a filmmaker and I’ve learned a lot from him and Jen. It was film school with two of the greatest teachers of all time.
The chemistry between them is so good. How did you get them to roll around with duct tape?
I’m always so protective of both of them and one of them, because obviously, if they get hurt, we’ll will be closed. They have a lot of fun and they are constantly pushing hard to do their thing. Jen said, “Adam can roll.” I thought, “No, we’re going to use a stuntman.” And she was like, “No, I can hold him. Come on, lie down.” back. She is so strong. I’m probably 200 Pounds, I was like, “Well, she’ll hold up.” (laughs.) She’s small, but she’s strong. So it was really fun to watch the two of them get on top of each other.
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You’ve done dramatized comedies and other stream-only comedies like this and Hulu’s The Binge . I love watching comedy in the theater because it can be a shared experience. In your opinion, what is the current outlook for comedy films?
I’m feeling it too. I have three boys — 03, and13 — I watch them watch Naked Gun, I Was rewatching the first one and the one time I saw it in a movie theater, people literally – not even kidding – were rolling up and down the aisles like spitting out popcorn. You can’t sit at home and have that experience. Having said that, more people will see this movie. But I am with you. A studio that’s made a really interesting movie will say, “We’re going to put this in theaters.” People will come, and others will follow. This requires a hangover .
It was fun to see the ego roof moment in Murder Mystery 2, maybe for The Hangover.
(laughs.) I only have six jokes in my repertoire. So I just repeat them until I get credit in the movie. ( LOL .)
You mentioned Hangover process. With such a hugely successful movie, I believe one credit means more money. Is the process frustrating throughout the business?
I can’t speak for every process, but when you have several people working on a movie as screenwriters, it’s very Difficult to determine the rules. I don’t necessarily have the salve or the answer. Wouldn’t it be frustrating if you dedicated your life to something and didn’t end up seeing your name in a movie? one hundred percent. But every professional writer, at some point, has experienced this. A lot of people do work that goes unrecognized. This is a challenging problem and at the moment I don’t even know what the rules are. But if you’re the director of a movie, it’s hard to get credit when you already have a script. This rule is there to protect screenwriters from a director coming in and taking credit from you.
Speaking of credits, Charlize Theron is credited as a producer on the Exec film, since she was the first film. Why is this?
Honestly, I really don’t know. Just before we locked down the movie, I saw her credits. I was like, “Oh wow! Charlize is — this is amazing.” Maybe she’ll be the next villain.
Interview edited for gth and clarity. ) is currently streaming on Netflix.
