Jason Statham & Adam Sandler Weirdly Remade The Same Movie Just 4 Years Apart

Name: The Longest Yard
Genre: Comedy

By Sean Morrison

Published Oct 26, 2024

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Custom image by Sean Morrison

Both Jason Statham has played plenty of great action heroes, from Deckard Shaw in the Fast & Furious franchise to Lee Christmas in the Expendables franchise, and many more. However, over 20 years ago, he also played a completely comedic character in a sports movie.

If Statham's comedy sports movie wasn't unusual enough, then it should come as a bit of a surprise that Adam Sandler made a movie about the exact same story shortly after Statham. Most of Adam Sandler's best movies are comedies, but his and Statham's filmographies rarely have any overlap at all. Though they couldn't be more different as actors, Sandler and Statham remade the same 1974 film nearly 40 years later, and they both did it within four years of one another.

Jason Statham & Adam Sandler Both Remade The Longest Yard In The 2000s - Who Did It Better?

Neither Mean Machine Nor The Longest Yard Were Great, But Statham's Was More Original

In 2001 and 2005, respectively, Jason Statham and Adam Sandler both starred in remakes of Burt Reynolds' 1974 movie The Longest Yard, a story about a professional athlete teaching a group of inmates how to play football. Statham's remake, Mean Machine, made a few big changes to the original, such as moving the setting to an English prison and changing the sport to soccer, but it was still based on the same original film. Sandler's version was a more direct remake that kept the original title, setting, and sport, and it even featured Burt Reynolds as the inmates' coach.

(Jason-Statham-as-Deckard-Shaw)-from-Fast-&-Furious-7.-(Jason-Statham-as-Rick-Ford)-from-Spy-and-(Jason-Statham--as-Chev-Chelios)-from-Crank

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Though they're based on the same film, Mean Machine and the remake of The Longest Yard are fairly different. Aside from changing to a more European sport like soccer, Mean Machine also switched to a more British sense of humor, one that was more sarcastic. The Longest Yard, on the other hand, features Sandler's patented brand of comedy, combined with Chris Rock's humor. For its originality alone, Mean Machine is a bit better than The Longest Yard. Neither of the films were well-received, however, as Mean Machine only beat The Longest Yard's Rotten Tomatoes score by 3%, with a score of 34%.

Jason Statham's Mean Machine Performance Was A Pre-Cursor To One Of His Biggest Roles

Statham Used The Same High-Energy Performance In 2006's Cranked

In Mean Machine, Jason Statham played The Monk, a maximum-security prisoner who played goalie. The Monk was fairly deranged, however, and he'd often leave the goalie box entirely just to chase down the ball whenever he could. Mean Machine turned out to be a great preparation for Statham's 2006 cult classic Crank, where he played Chev Chelios, a hitman who had to keep his heart rate up to survive. The Monk and Chev have quite a few similarities, from their high-octane energy to being slightly homicidal, and Statham was perfect for both of the roles.

The Longest Yard Continued An Adam Sandler Movie Trend That's Still Ongoing

Many Of Adam Sandler's Movies Focus On Or Feature Sports

Interestingly enough, The Longest Yard also continued a trend in Adam Sandler's career in much the same way Statham did in Mean Machine. Ever since 1996's Happy Gilmore, Sandler has done several sports movies, including 1998's The Waterboy, 2005's The Longest Yard, 2022's Hustle, and the movie Happy Gilmore 2. While there was a 17-year break between The Longest Yard and Hustle, sports have always had a role in Sandler's movies. From gambling on basketball in Uncut Gems to going to the water park in Grown Ups, Sandler usually finds a way to play a sport in his films.

No matter what happens in the future, though, both Jason Statham and Adam Sandler will have their The Longest Yard remakes in common.

Yet another odd trend that Jason Statham and Adam Sandler have in common is what has gone on after their remakes of The Longest Yard. Statham and Sandler aren't similar actors in any way - Statham is mostly known for action, and only dips into comedy between fight scenes, whereas Sandler is primarily a comedian. However, Adam Sandler's recent turn towards drama, with movies like Uncut Gems and Spaceman, have brought him closer to Statham's more mature reputation. No matter what happens in the future, though, both Jason Statham and Adam Sandler will have their The Longest Yard remakes in common.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes