The last two years haven't been incredibly kind to Adam Sandler in the live-action film world. While the actor's career was buoyed at the start of fall last year with the release of the animated Hotel Transylvania, he is coming off of two major box office disappointments in Jack and Jill and That's My Boy that have many people wondering how much longer the star's popularity will last in Hollywood. And as though those problems weren't bad enough, now another bad situation has been thrown on Sandler's plate.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Sandler's Happy Madison production company, Sony Pictures, and Columbia Pictures are all now being sued by a carpenter named Richard Houpert who believes that somebody needs to be held responsible for an incident on the set of That's My Boy last year that led to Houpert losing part of his hand. The plaintiff was working with a table saw on the set of the Boston-set comedy when he saw several of his fingers on his right hand partially cut off and his hand sustain multiple fractures. According to the trade, the complaint says that the saw "was not properly fitted with safety components such as saw stops and safety guards." Because Houpert's right hand is his dominant hand, he says that the on-set injury has led to him losing work and therefore income. He is seeking $1 million in damages. Said the plaintiff's attorney, Joan S. Amon, "The cost to provide saws with saw stops, guards, or other safety equipment was minimal compared to the enormity of the risk of injury to the users of the saws."
It's also noted that Houpert isn't just going after the movie studios, but also the company that makes the table saw that was involved in the incident. The complaint says that the Black & Decker equipment was "not of merchantable quality and unfit for its intended and forseeable uses," while also being labeled as "dangerous and defective."
That's My Boy was a pretty brutal loss for Sandler and the studio when it was released last fall. While the film was made for a modest $70 million, it was torn apart by critics, only managed to open at number four at the box office, and by the end of the run only pulled in $57 million worldwide. The movie was the first R-rated starring feature from Happy Madison, and given the lack of success it could very well be the last time.
Up next, Sandler will once again be reuniting with the likes of Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Spade for Dennis Dugan's Grown Ups 2. The new movie will be in theaters on July 12th and you can watch the trailer - if you dare - below.
