Ever since Anchorman first emerged in 2004 they’ve been talking about a sequel. Indeed, the on-again off-again follow-up has had so many ups and down it’s now at the point where you could probably make a movie about trying to get it made (a bit like Waiting For Godot), rather than them actually filming a sequel.
Last month it seemed the whole idea of Anchorman 2 was dead in the water and it had been dropped, with everyone seeming to accept that it simply wasn’t going to happen. However not everyone gave up and now the film’s director, Adam McKay, has given us hope a sequel will indeed emerge. Talking the MTV Movies, he says the sequel is alive, but the problem is still over the budget, with Paramount not wanting to spend too much on the movie. “The stage we’re at now,” McKay says, “is talking to Paramount and trying to get the money to do it.” He adds, “It’s a tricky movie because everyone went and did really well after it [the first Anchorman], so everyone’s prices went up and everyone’s time got a little more valuable. But at the same time, graciously, Steve and Paul and everyone agreed to cut their price to come and do [the sequel], which you don’t see very often in Hollywood – and cut their price substantially. But even with that, it’s just a budgetary thing with Paramount in terms of how much they’ll give us to make it.”
The plan at the moment is to try and polish the script and get everything sorted by the autumn, so Paramount will give the project the greenlight and then hopefully it can start shooting next February.
Don’t get too excited though, as numerous plans have been mooted over the last six years as to how the film will get to the screen, and so far we’re still waiting. However, with Will Ferrell’s last few films having been a bust at the cinema, we’d imagine he’ll be more keen than ever to step back into the shoes of Ron Burgundy.