Over the years, Adam Sandler has filmed in a lot of cool locations. He’s also become known for bringing along his friends for the ride so they get a nice vacation out of it. He’s been very open about it. However, that's changing. His pals are still along for the trip in Grown Ups 3; however, the upcoming Netflix movie is shooting in the notably not exotic North New Jersey. This week he was filming in the Garden State town of Colonia, outside New York City. Now don’t get me wrong, New Jersey is a great place, but it’s not exactly Maui.
According to a report on tapinto.net, Sandler, along with his co-stars Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, and Rob Schneider, parked their production in Colonia for a day while filming scenes for the movie. And again, Colonia is a nice town, and probably a great place to grow up, like much of Jersey, but it’s pretty much just the generic suburbs. The first Grown Ups movie was definitely an excuse to hang out with his friends at a Lake House outside Boston.
All those locations are a far cry from some of the exotic locales Sandler’s been able to take friends to before, especially in more recent years with his deal with Netflix. In fact, he rarely makes one of his Netflix movies (especially his best rom-coms) anywhere but a fun location, something he admitted to in 2014 when he said he often picks and writes movies for his Happy Madison productions based on somewhere he wants to vacation. Here are a few of the locations he’s shot movies in over recent years:
- Oahu (50 First Dates, Murder Mystery 2)
- Maui (Just Go With It)
- Sun City, South Africa (Blended)
- Baja, Mexico (You Don't Mess with the Zohan)
- Lake Como, Italy (Murder Mystery)
- Paris (Murder Mystery 2)
- Prague (Spaceman)
- New Mexico (The Ridiculous 6)
- Puerto Rico (The Do-Over)
- Alaska (50 First Dates)
Jack and Jill, which no one would say is the best Sandler flick, allowed Sandler (and Sandler) to film on board a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Even I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, while mostly shot in New York, featured scenes filmed at Niagara Falls. It’s a pretty nice gig, if you get it. Or, in this case, make it happen.
This isn’t the first time Sandler has filmed in Jersey, of course. Happy Gilmore 2, which is also available with a Netflix subscription, was filmed in the same area as Grown Ups 2, as was this year’s Don't Say Good Luck. His 2022 Netflix movie Hustle was filmed around Philadelphia, including parts of South Jersey as well.
Though he’s not from New Jersey, Adam Sandler seems to have found a home in the Garden State, at least for filming. When he’s not shooting under a palm tree on a beach somewhere with Jennifer Aniston.
