Don't Say Good Luck is a 2026 American musical teen drama film directed and co-produced by Julia Hart and co-produced by Adam Sandler, Jackie Sandler, Jordan Horowitz and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones. The film stars Sunny Sandler, Melanie Lynskey, Max Greenfield, Jack Champion, Stephanie Beatriz, Bebe Neuwirth, and Steve Buscemi. The film was produced by Happy Madison Productions and distributed by Netflix. The film has received overall positive reviews from critics.
Contents
Premise
Sophie is a 16-year old girl preparing for her leading role in her high school musical of Waitress when suddenly her mother's cancer has returned. Her best friend is acting weird and Sophie feels left out. She has to stay strong for her two younger brothers while her dad handles the deli they own. She has not learnt to drive and feels reliant on others. Her grandmother coming to stay to help with her dying mother creates chaos too.
Cast
Sunny Sandler as Sophie Birenbaum, a girl preparing for her work in her high school musical performance of Waitress
Melanie Lynskey as Elizabeth Birenbaum, Sophie's mother who is dying of cancer
Max Greenfield as Ted Birenbaum, Sophie's father
Jack Champion as Jack Davis, Sophie's crush who is coincidentally cast as her character's love interest in the play
Stephanie Beatriz as Ms. Parker, the school play's director
Bebe Neuwirth as Linda, Sophie's grandmother who has a complicated relationship with Elizabeth
Steve Buscemi as Dale, Sophie's grandfather
Scarlett Estevez as Carolyn Morales, Sophie's best friend
Jon Lovitz as Lenny
Emma McNulty as Erin, Carolyn's girlfirend
Elyse Bell as Mallory Sinclair
Matan M. Friedman as Caleb Birenbaum
Eitan O. Friedman as Ethan Birenbaum
Production
In April 2025, the film's title Don't Say Good Luck was announced, it would be directed by Julia Hart, co-produced by Hart, Jordan Horowitz and Adam Sandler, starring Sunny Sandler and distributed by Netflix. In June 2025, Deadline Hollywood confirmed that Melanie Lynskey, Max Greenfield, Stephanie Beatriz, Bebe Neuwirth, and Steve Buscemi have joined the cast. In August, Jack Champion joined the cast.
Principal photography began in July 2025 coinciding with another Happy Madison–production Roommates (2026) in New Jersey.
Release
Don't Say Good Luck was released on Netflix worldwide on August 14, 2026.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 41 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.