Carl Weathers was due to have a "massive part" in Happy Gilmore 2 before his death.
The Rocky actor passed away in February 2024 at the age of 76 and lead actor Adam Sandler revealed that the sad news meant a "painful change" needed to be made to the forthcoming sequel - even though Carl's alter ego Derick 'Chubbs' Peterson died in the original 1996 golf comedy.
Sandler, 58, told Collider: "We had a painful change. Carl Weathers had a massive part.
"I would talk to Carl, and we were excited, and then Carl passed away. We had to rewrite a lot of the stuff, and even what the story was. We made a lot of nice references to how great Chubbs was in the movie. That was the biggest change."
Weathers was due to appear in the sequel as an early draft of the script had Chubbs visiting Sandler's titular character in his dreams.
The 50 First Dates star explained: "In the first version that we came up with, he had a son. He was coming back to me a lot in my dreams, and he had a son who was mad at Happy for causing the death of daddy."
Although he was sadly unable to feature in the movie - which will be released on Netflix on July 25 - Sandler and director Kyle Newacheck want the sequel to remember Chubbs' spirit.
The filmmaker said: "You can't make Happy Gilmore without Chubbs Peterson.
"It doesn't exist. You can be assured his spirit is throughout the film. He may not be by Happy's side anymore, but he's on his shoulder."
NFL star Travis Kelce - who is dating pop superstar Taylor Swift - features in the sequel and described it as a "dream come true" to be working with Sandler.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end told The Pat McAfee Show earlier this year: "That was a dream come true.
"I thought SNL was going to be the peak of my acting and showman or entertainment career.
"Working with Happy Gilmore himself, the Sandman and Happy Productions, it was off the chain."
Kelce revealed that he found Sandler to be "every bit as cool off the screen as he is on the screen" during the making of the film.
He said: "They’re so professional and yet so fun to work with.
"I felt like I was working with like the [Chiefs' coach] Andy Reid of the acting world.
"[Sandler] is every bit as cool off the screen as he is on the screen.
"That was a dream come true. That was awesome."
Sandler admitted that the NFL star is "funny and cool as hell" when he confirmed his cameo role in the comedy flick.
He told The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: "We have a nice something for Travis. He’s gonna come by.
"He’s a very nice guy. You guys would love him in real life. What a big, handsome guy. Funny and cool as hell. He’s a stud and he’s so funny."
