Netflix’s next big coming-of-age drama arrives on August 14. “Don’t Say Good Luck” stars Sunny Sandler in her first major leading film role, backed by a cast that includes Melanie Lynskey, Max Greenfield, Stephanie Beatriz, Bebe Neuwirth, and Steve Buscemi.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Don’t Say Good Luck release on Netflix?
“Don’t Say Good Luck” premieres on Netflix on August 14, 2026.
Who stars in Don’t Say Good Luck?
The film is led by Sunny Sandler, alongside Melanie Lynskey, Max Greenfield, Stephanie Beatriz, Bebe Neuwirth, and Steve Buscemi.
Is Sunny Sandler related to Adam Sandler?
Yes, Sunny Sandler is Adam Sandler’s daughter, and this marks one of her first major leading roles outside of family productions.
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What the Film Is About
“Don’t Say Good Luck” follows 15-year-old Sophie Birenbaum, who learns her mother’s cancer has returned just as she’s been cast to lead her school’s musical and is navigating her friends’ first forays into dating. Directed by Julia Hart from a screenplay she co-wrote with Laura Hankin and Jordan Horowitz, the film is billed as a musical comedy-drama that leans into the collision between a huge personal high — landing the lead in the school show — and a devastating piece of family news arriving at the same time.
A Breakout Role for Sunny Sandler
While Sunny Sandler has appeared in several of her father Adam Sandler’s family comedies over the years, “Don’t Say Good Luck” represents a notable step toward more dramatic, character-driven work. According to Netflix’s own Tudum coverage, the film leans heavily on musical numbers tied to Sophie’s school production, giving Sandler room to carry both the comedic and the more emotional beats of the story rather than playing a supporting part in someone else’s film.
A Loaded Supporting Cast
The ensemble around Sandler is stacked with recognizable names across comedy and drama. Melanie Lynskey and Steve Buscemi bring decades of character-actor credibility, while Max Greenfield and Stephanie Beatriz add sitcom-honed comic timing, and Bebe Neuwirth rounds things out with her own Broadway pedigree — a fitting fit for a film built around a school musical. That mix suggests Netflix is positioning the film to land jokes as reliably as it lands its heavier emotional turns.
Why This Fits Netflix’s Summer Strategy
Netflix has leaned into coming-of-age dramedies with musical elements as a recurring summer play in recent years, and “Don’t Say Good Luck” slots neatly into that pattern. Releasing in mid-August also positions it ahead of the fall awards conversation, giving a smaller, character-driven title room to build word of mouth before the bigger fall streaming releases crowd the conversation.
What to Expect at Release
Expect a film that swings between genuinely funny high-school-musical chaos and a more grounded look at what it’s like to face a parent’s illness as a teenager, without leaning into melodrama for its own sake. Given the pedigree involved both in front of and behind the camera, “Don’t Say Good Luck” looks positioned as one of the more talked-about smaller Netflix originals of the month once it lands on August 14.
Director Julia Hart’s Track Record
Julia Hart has built a career on exactly this kind of tonal balancing act, having previously written and directed films that mix genre elements with grounded family drama rather than playing purely as comedy or straight tearjerkers. That background matters here, since “Don’t Say Good Luck” is being marketed as a musical comedy first and a cancer drama second, a framing that leans on Hart’s history of finding levity inside heavier premises rather than treating the illness storyline as the entire emotional engine of the film. Co-writers Laura Hankin and Jordan Horowitz round out a creative team with strong credentials in both book adaptation and awards-adjacent filmmaking, which has fueled some early expectations that the film could carry more of a festival-circuit sensibility than a typical Netflix original.
Where It Fits Among Netflix’s 2026 Originals
Netflix has increasingly used mid-August as a launch window for smaller, character-driven originals that don’t need to compete directly with major theatrical releases, and “Don’t Say Good Luck” fits that pattern closely. Unlike the platform’s bigger tentpole releases, films in this slot tend to build their audience gradually through word of mouth over the following weeks rather than posting huge opening-weekend viewership numbers, making it one of the titles worth checking back in on a few weeks after launch rather than judging purely off its first few days on the platform.
For more on Sunny Sandler’s other upcoming projects, see our coverage of the Grown Ups 3 cast reunion at Netflix.
