No, Adam Sandler Isn't Killing off Rob Schneider in 'Grown Ups 3' (Probably)

I have not seen a single Grown Ups film. In fact, I think I tapped out on the “Sandler Comedies” after Funny People, though I would count that more as an Apatow movie (for obvious reasons). That said, my kids watched the first Hotel Transylvania earlier this year, and I almost watched Happy Gilmore 2 when it came out! I wanted to! But then I just… didn’t. All that is to say that I would not have batted an eye at the announcement of a third Grown Ups movie had it not been accompanied by an interesting hook: a death.

The first announcement that went out about the sequel claimed that the GU crew would travel to Europe to spread the ashes of a dearly departed friend. People immediately assumed that the character’s death in question would be Rob Schneider. Part of what fueled that speculation was a picture attached to the announcement, put out by the popular online account Discussing Film, that had the franchise’s mainstays (Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, and Jevin Spade), but the Hot Chick star was noticeably absent. People also took the opportunity to dunk on Sandler’s longtime friend and collaborator.

It quickly became an instance of online wishful thinking. People were rallying around the idea that Schneider, who has been on the right-wing crazy train for some time, was being removed by his old friend because most people don’t want him around. And, honestly, that was what made the whole idea sound a bit fishy to me. While he doesn’t broadcast it, Sandler certainly has his own… questionable politics. He likely just knows that people would rather see him yelling in sweat shorts than hear his political takes.

But I started to doubt that Sandler would kick his buddy to the curb over something like that, and then I began to wonder why he would get rid of him at all, and the whole thing started to fall apart. Then, what started as a fun rumor was destroyed as I began to look at all the different outlets that were reporting the news. None of them mentioned the death of a close friend, including the official announcement from Netflix. Additionally, the post from Discussing Film is no longer up (though you can search it on Google). But I can kind of see how this all may have started.

While the new movie has been announced and Sandler is confirmed to be writing it, the cast has yet to be announced. Seems a bit odd for a series that relies on who is in it. Could there be some fire here? Will one of the characters not make it to the next family vacation? Could it be Sandler himself, and he uses the new movie as an excuse to pay for a vacation for his friends?! Time will tell, but by then, I will have likely gotten distracted by some other dubious internet information.