Not Even Your Love Of Scotch Will Get You Anchorman 2
It’s amazing how quickly defeat can be snatched from the jaws of victory. In the case of Paramount getting the opportunity to make “Anchorman 2″ for dirt 
cheap, it was one whole friggin’ day. Just yesterday, The Kidd told you that writer/director Adam McKay had rounded up all the principle cast from “Anchorman” and secured their interest in making a sequel for far less money than they typically would be paid for any other acting gigs. Everyone was on-board, ready to work for a quesadilla, 50 cents, and a seasonal pass to Six Flags. All it was going to take to push this thing forward was Paramount willing to put up the money to make it. Well, game, set, and match to Paramount, who decided not to pony up the cash, effectively killing any chance of the legend of Ron Burgundy living on, at least in a second movie. How do you people sleep at night?
On his personal Twitter account, McKay tweeted, “So bummed. Paramount basically passed on Anchorman 2. Even after we cut our budget down. We tried.” Now I may not be the biggest “Anchorman” supporter. In fact, I hate the fuckin’ movie. Upon first viewing, I found it unfunny and retarded, with a debate in my head raging on as to which it was more – unfunny or retarded. I have vowed to revisit it very soon, in order to see if I may have made a mistake in my snap judgment of the film, but, needless to say, I have no love for this movie at this 
time. However, I do understand that there’s a loyal cult following for “Anchorman” that insists on quoting the shit out of it, and their incessant quoting has gotten other people quoting it as well, people who hadn’t actually seen the movie before until they were told that they had a “dirty whorish mouth.” Then they went out and watched it, and got others to watch it, and so the vicious cycle continued and onward and upward we’ve gone since then. So, with “Anchorman” really finding a new audience once it hit DVD, much like “Austin Powers” and “Office Space” did, it’s not entirely unreasonable to think that a sequel could far surpass what the original did in terms of box office numbers. How could it not? Will Ferrell still has some drawing power on his own, but Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and Christina Applegate also being a part of the cast and much bigger names now than they were just a few years ago should really count for something. At this point, people will see movies strictly because Paul Rudd and/or Steve Carell are in them. I can’t really say the same for Christina Applegate, but she’s a package deal in this, so she gets to share in some of the credit by default.
I think Paramount is making a huge mistake in passing on the chance to fund what really could be a solid moneymaker for them. If the budget is low enough, there’s no way a solid comedy with that type of star power in the cast can’t turn a profit. No way. But that’s why I don’t get to make the decisions as to what movies get made… because the world is so much better off with “Anchorman 2″ sequels getting denied and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” reboots getting to happen. And this is really it for talks of an “Anchorman 2″ sequel, unless Paramount quickly 
switches course on this and changes its mind. The hopes were to get this idea ready for a shoot to commence early next year, but, with that window closing now, it’d be ridiculous to expect Rudd, Carell, and Ferrell to not book something else to make during that time. With it not happening now, who knows if there will ever be another chance for this crew to find the time in their schedules to come together once again for the idea of “Anchorman 2″? Paramount owns the movie, so, if they say no, then there’s no movie to make. They can’t shop it around unless Paramount relinquishes the rights, something I don’t see happening. Therefore, as of now, I think we can put to bed any talk of “Anchorman 2″ going down. This thing is dead and buried, and, in some respects, that’s a shame. This is something fans of “Anchorman” were really hoping for, and this wasn’t going to be some quick cash grab. They had a concept, an idea, and a story in mind to go forward with making it. However, on the other side of the coin, there’s no guarantee that it would be as funny as most regard the original as being. And, if there’s a chance that this could turn out to be subpar work, then maybe it’s better off leaving “Anchorman” as a movie that is one and done… maybe.
The talks about another movie in the “District 9″ scheme of things gained some more weight with star Sharlto Copley opening up about how serious they are 
about doing a sequel, or prequel. The answer – very serious. In an interview with Empire, Copley had a lot to say about the plans he and director Neill Blomkamp have devised for bringing Wikus and the prawns back to the big screen.
“Neill wants it and I want it. Neill’s doing another film first. Then I think if everything goes to plan we’ll do the second film in about two years time. That story can go in so many different ways. There’s a whole unverse. I’m sure a lot of writers say that, but we actually have an entire universe… There’s a million ways you can go. Neill’s actually very interested in prequels as well; he’s said that a few times. We wouldn’t do the traditional Hollywood version of the sequel which would just be 100 aliens fighting humans.” Very interesting… so we’re looking at about late 2012 or sometime in 2013 before we get to lay our eyes on another “District 9,” and really I can go either way on this. I’m typically opposed to prequels, because we already know where we’re going to end up, and “District 9″ is no different with that argument applied. However, it might actually be interesting to see the events that led up to the tensions between humans and aliens in “District 9.” I don’t really care how they arrived on Earth, but it could be a good story to show the elements that contributed to the 
hatred and ultimately segregation of the aliens by humans. A sequel could be good as well, with Christopher Johnson returning to help Wikus get back to human form. However, beyond that, if that were to even take place, I’m not sure what the next step would be. But, from the words of Copley, he and Blomkamp already have a decent idea of where to go next. After the first movie blew us away, there’s no reason to think these two guys, with Peter Jackson’s involvement as well, don’t know what they’re doing. I have full confidence in them to be able to pull this off, whether they go sequel or prequel, and, while it pains me to have to do it, I’m willing to wait a couple of years for them to get back to it. Of course i want the instant gratification of seeing it as soon as possible, but, if it means doing it absolutely right, then they can take their sweet-ass time as long as they deliver.
With “Scream 4″ officially a go and a release date set in stone (April 15, 2011), people are finally talking about what we might expect from a series that’s been dead for 10 years now, and, by people, I mean director Wes Craven. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the famed horror director gives us a small sampling as to where things sit with Sidney after all these years. “There have been 10 years of no Ghostface, but there has been the movie-within-a-movie 
‘Stab.’ We have fun with the idea of endless sequels, or ‘sequelitis’ as Kevin [Williamson, writer] calls it in the script. Sid goes through these three horrendous things, and ‘Stab’ was based on those horrible things. And then they’ve been taken by a studio and run into the ground in a series of sequels. She has been off by herself and living her own life, and she’s even written a book that has gotten a lot of critical acclaim. She’s kind of put her life back together in the course of these 10 years. But, certainly, there would be no ‘Scream’ without Ghostfaece, so she has to confront him again, but now as a woman who has really come out the darkness of her past.”
Craven also gives every indication that this new planned trilogy under the “Scream” label will examine where the horror genre has gone over the last decade. We’re not just seeing teen slasher flicks anymore, and, as a result, the rules of the game have changed, which means they’ve shifted for the rules of the franchise. I’m hoping we can skip the torture porn period of horror we’ve seen with films like “Hostel” and “Saw” and other copycats. However, I’m sure there will be some jab at those flicks as well as many other targets, namely endless remakes, reboots, and sequels. Even with the original trilogy wrapping up in disappointing fashion, I remain optimistic that Craven and Williamson will be able to pull this off while acclimating a new cast in with our old favorites. In addition, when Craven was asked if he’d be directing the entire trilogy, he answered, “Yeah, I’m signed on for the duration.” That leads The Kidd to believe that there is a carefully drawn out plan for all three films, and that can only mean good things for the whole project. April cannot come soon enough, because “Scream 4″ is indeed a movie I am getting extremely excited about.
Finally, Paramount and Mattel have extending their partnership in order to make a movie based on the Magic 8-Ball, according to Vulture. Even more dumb than 
that idea is the idea that it’s going to be a live action-adventure film. Seriously… sometimes I couldn’t make this shit up if I tried. Like if I sat down with pen and paper and thought about the stupidest fuckin’ movie concept I could ever come up, the last thing I would ever come up with is a movie about a piece of round plastic filled with liquid that delivers generic responses to your specific questions when you shake it. I think it’d be a better concept to come up with a movie about a microwave… and not even a magical microwave or a magic microwave or a time-traveling microwave… but just your regular run-of-the-mill microwaves that makes popcorn and heats up soup. In any event, this is really happening. Can it possibly be any good? Hold on… let me shake up the 8-Ball on my desk and find out… Ah, just as I thought – “My sources say no.” Wow… who knew the Magic 8-Ball could actually be right about something?
Check back later today for our “Iron Man 2″ Contest results, as our list of winners will be posted this afternoon.
And, for those of you planning to catch a movie this weekend, The Kidd’s latest review - “A Nightmare on Elm Street” – is up for your examination. It is spoiler-heavy, but, if you have any thoughts about seeing the remake, you might want to read it anyway, because it could save you some time and plenty of aggravation. Trust me.
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Until next week…
