Together and independently, Will Ferrell and Judd Apatow have had a pretty long string of successes both Lol-wise, critically and commercially.
(OK, Ferrell may have a few X’s in his corner with duds like, “Blades of Glory,” “Kicking & Screaming” – which we actually kind of liked – and arguably, “Semi-Pro,” but a decent comedy track record nonetheless).
Producer Apatow’s 2007 super-smashes (“Knocked Up,” “Superbad,”) earned him the “Mayor of Comedy” sobriquet and Ferrell’s been pretty much on-point since his SNL days even when the films themselves might not have been so great (see above).
But now that the both of them are separately and independently contemplating sequels to their various comedy success, it bares the question: have both of them run out of ideas? Are they running out of gas and or are they just getting lazy?
Producer/writer/director Judd Apatow just discussed the idea for an “Anchorman 2” sequel (a Ferrell comedy he produced), but it sounds far-fetched and far-far off.
And thankfully, many of their ideas seem half-baked insofar as they’d probably never really have the enthusiasm to make them and Ferrell at least maintains a healthy level of skepticism about all of them – even with huge paydays in mind.
Here’s a look a what they have brewing, but probably not cooking anytime soon.
Anchorman 2
“The movie that probably has a best shot at a sequel is ‘Anchorman.’ Ron Burgundy would be hilarious at 70-years-old, being the anchor,” Apatow told MTV just yesterday. But luckily if it ever happened, Burgundy would have to stay classy a few decades from now. “We all think it would be fun to see him up on his feet again doing what only he can do. That would be awesome – but it could only happen in 30 years.”
Survey Says: Likely hood of this actually happening seem slim to none. We have to say, “whew” (it sounds terrible).
Old School 2 (aka Old School Dos)
“I read [the script]. Some super funny set pieces, but I don’t know,” Ferell told AICN at the end of February. “I think Vince [Vaughn] had the same reaction. We’re just kind of doing the same thing again. It was like us going to Spring Break, but we’ve got to find this guy who’s the head of a fraternity. Once again, funny things but it’s just us once again back in a fraternity setting. It just felt like it was repeating. But watch, I’m over thinking it.”
Survey Says: A mild to decent shot regardless simply because it almost went into production a few years back with director Todd Phillips again back at the helm. We generally hate sequels, but out of all these films, we consider “Old Schoo,” the original, a bonafide comedy classic, so with a strong script in hand (and only if), we’d love to see these clowns go for another round. Note Apatow has nothing to do with this.
Zoolander 2
“Yeah, there was a little talk, and I brought it up to Ben really five years after the fact,” Ferrell told MTV while promoting “Semi-Pro” in February. “Just for whatever reasons, it’s just not crystallizing. That’s the other thing. I mean, Mugatu, what do you do with that guy? Would he still be obsessed with that?”
Survey Says: We probably don’t need to worry about this happening unless both Ben Stiller and Ferrell somehow both go broke. But never say never.
Elf 2
A shit-load of cash was on the table: Ferrell turned down $29 million to make a sequel to his Christmas 2003 hit directed by Jon Favreau and confirmed yet again that the project is “100% dead.” ‘I killed the idea of a sequel. I never liked it – $29m does seem a lot of money for a guy to wear tights, but it’s what the marketplace will bear,” Ferell told The Guardian in 2006. “It’s insane, but it’s not my call. The studios perpetuate it and they make it hard to say no. [But] it wasn’t difficult at all.I remember asking myself: could I withstand the criticism when it’s bad and they say, ‘He did the sequel for the money?,’ I decided I wouldn’t be able to.”
But Ferrell forewarns.
“I [don’t] want to wander into an area that could erase all the good work I’ve done – but you watch, I’ll do some sequel in the future that’s crap.” Never say never, indeed.
Other [Not Sequel] Projects
Oh and while we’re at it, don’t look for “A Confederacy of Dunces” to happen either. “As far as I know it’s gone,” Ferrell told Ain’t It Cool. “It’s a mystery. For some reason that’s a very scary project for people to take on and I don’t know why, but yeah I have no idea.” (though formerly attached director David Gordon Green seemed to have some answers to why the project fell apart).
Next up for Ferrell is the “Land Of the Lost” remake (which Apatow is producing; Danny McBride co-stars). “It’ll be PG-13, yet we still want [edge]. It’s right up to an R and we are going to pull that line with the studio, because I already had an experience with ‘Kicking and Screaming.’ [It] was supposed to be more of a ‘Bad News Bears’ type comedy and they kind of [made it PG].”