Overview
- The presentation will take place during the 41st festival, which runs Feb. 4–14, 2026 in Santa Barbara, California.
- Sandler will join film critic Leonard Maltin for an on-stage conversation about his career.
- Festival materials cite nearly 40 years of work and more than $3 billion in global grosses as context for the honor.
- Recent credits featured in coverage include Jay Kelly, Uncut Gems, Hustle, Spaceman, Leo, and Netflix’s Happy Gilmore 2, which set the streamer’s biggest U.S. opening-weekend mark.
- Established in 1995 and renamed in 2015, the Maltin Modern Master Award counts past honorees such as Angelina Jolie, Denzel Washington, Nicole Kidman, Robert Downey Jr., Christopher Nolan, and James Cameron.