We’ve known for a while that ANCHORMAN 2 was something that everyone wanted to do. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay had a script idea and the cast was ready to take pay cuts just to work together again. However, now we have confirmation from the man himself that it was executives at Paramount who nixed the idea.
At a screening for Ferrell’s new indie comedy EVERYTHING MUST GO, he told reporters that Paramount doesn’t believe ANCHORMAN 2 would be a success:
“‘Anchorman 2,’ you’d have to really assert some kind of email hate campaign to Paramount Pictures because they’ve told us, quote-unquote, ‘We’ve run the numbers and it’s not a good fit,'”
Ferrell says that he and McKay had a great, old school idea on how to execute the sequel, and at least everyone else loves it:
“We were going to do almost a reverse … almost like how the Marx brothers used to do. We were going to do a Broadway musical and then have a film come out after the stage show…Everyone we tell the idea loves it, except for the studio that owns the rights. Ball’s in their courts, but they’re being idiots.”
How ANCHORMAN 2 wouldn’t be profitable, I have no idea. The movie is literally the most quotable movie of the past 50 years. If you don’t believe me, check out the reel below of JUST Brick Tamland.