Adam Sandler is back filming in NJ — it’s officially not rare anymore

There was a time when a movie filming in New Jersey was a genuine event, the kind of thing that got the whole town talking for weeks. These days I'm starting to lose count. This week it's Adam Sandler again, and depending on which street you live on, it might be less "exciting local news" and more "why is Green Village Road closed."

Sandler's latest project, "Grown Ups 3," was filming this week at Rod's Steak and Seafood Grille inside The Madison Hotel in Morris Township, according to Morristownnj.com. A crew member told the outlet Sandler himself was expected on site, and production vehicles and equipment have been visible around the hotel. The Madison Hotel's front desk declined to confirm anything when reached by NorthJersey.com, but Rod's and the neighboring GK's Red Dog Tavern both announced on Facebook that they'd be closed August 3 through 5 for the shoot.

A whole borough built around it for a day

Just up the road, Madison closed Green Village Road entirely on August 6 to accommodate filming, with the Waverly Green parking lot still reachable from Kings Road and drivers steered toward alternate routes around Main Street. Michael Pellessier, the borough's director of operations, confirmed the closure was tied directly to "Grown Ups 3" production. Madison is a certified Film Ready New Jersey community, he said, and the borough works with productions to keep the disruption manageable for residents and businesses.

"Grown Ups 3" was announced by Netflix back in May, with cast, release date, and plot still under wraps. The first two films leaned on the same crew of Sandler regulars, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Maya Rudolph, Maria Bello, Salma Hayek, and Steve Buscemi, and locals have already reportedly spotted both James and Rock around town this week too.

SEE ALSO: 'The Four Seasons" season 2 filmed down the shore — here's where 

NY Premiere of Grown Ups 2 | (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

This isn't even Sandler's first NJ shoot this decade

I've written more than once now about film crews turning up somewhere in New Jersey, and this one keeps proving the pattern rather than breaking it. "Happy Gilmore 2" spent 64 days filming across Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Morris, Somerset, and Monmouth counties in 2024, dropping $152.5 million into the state and setting a new record for production spending here. Sandler's own Happy Madison Productions was back again just last summer, shooting the Netflix film "Don't Say Good Luck" in Ridgewood.

Add in the other productions I've covered recently, plus this one, and New Jersey has quietly become less of a novelty backdrop and more of a regular filming address. I'm not complaining, exactly. But if your favorite diner shuts down for three days this summer, now you know why.