Even after years of collaborating with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock on “Saturday Night Live,” first-time director Robert Smigel still feels lucky to work alongside the comedic duo.
“They used to lean on me for advice a lot,” Smigel, who co-wrote “The Week Of” with Sandler, told Variety. “Now they’re throwing me a bone.”
Sandler, Rock, and Smigel were joined by Steve Buscemi, Allison Strong, Roland Buck III at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 in New York City on Monday for the premiere of “The Week Of.”
The film chronicles the struggles of a middle-class family man (Sandler) in the days leading up to his daughter’s wedding, as he refuses financial assistance from the wealthy father of the groom (Rock). “The Week Of” is the final installment of Sandler’s first four-film deal with Netflix.
Sandler pitched the idea to Smigel, who considers the project the most fun he’s had in his career. Before the screening began, Smigel went on to thank each member of the cast and crew for their talent and hard work when Sandler stood up and shouted, “Shut up already!” in that vociferous tone we’ve grown so accustomed to from his films.
This was just another premiere for Sandler, who paced up and down the rows of the theater chanting for the film to begin and making sure to update the audience on Monday night’s New York Yankees score.
“It’s because of people at Netflix supporting Adam, and Adam and his people supporting me so much,” Smigel continued on, seemingly ignoring Sandler’s pleas. “I just felt like the luckiest first-time director in history.”
Smigel said that it was more than comedy that reunited him with Sandler for the film.
“What Adam and I bonded on when we were kids at ‘Saturday Night Live’ was that we have close-knit families,” Smigel said. “We both worshipped our dads. This movie is for our dads.”
“The Week Of” streams April 27 on Netflix.
