Fans rejoiced when Ron Burgundy finally got his sequel with Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues following a prolonged period of Paramount saying “no†to the prospect of a follow-up, and then everyone collectively agreed that it was Derek Zoolander’s turn. Ben Stiller has been trying to get Zoolander 2 off the ground for a few years, but he ran into the same problem that Anchorman did: the first film wasn’t a box office success, and despite invading the zeitgeist through home video, the studio can’t see a profit benefit in greenlighting a sequel. Last we heard, Stiller was working on the script with co-writer Justin Theroux, who planned on directing. That was a couple of years ago, but in a recent interview about his HBO series The Leftovers, Theroux provided a rather promising update regarding Zoolander 2. More after the jump.
Speaking with Vulture, Theroux said things are heating up with regards to Zoolander 2:
“Yeah, we’ve got a script for the sequel, and we’ve just been in talks again. We’re trying to sharpen it and hone it and, actually, I don’t want to jinx anything, but it looks like it actually might be starting to get up and running… It’s actually been a little hard with the show, but now I’m back full-time to dedicate time toward doing it. I met with Ben [Stiller] a couple times when I was in New York doing The Leftovers, and then I’m meeting again with him probably in September.â€
Despite the heavy and bleak tone of The Leftovers, Theroux has solid experience with comedy having written Rock of Ages and Iron Man 2, and he also co-wrote Tropic Thunder. While the initial plan was to have Theroux take over directing duties for Zoolander 2, he now says Stiller might get back in the director’s chair instead:
“I don’t think I’m going to [direct] it anymore. It really depends on whether the show gets picked up. If it gets picked up, then I don’t think I’ll have the time to do it. So it’ll probably get handed to Ben, which would be awesome.â€
HBO still hasn’t renewed The Leftovers for a second season, but it sounds like if they do that’ll take Theroux off the table for Zoolander 2. Nevertheless, it’s exciting to hear that the project isn’t totally dead, and I can only hope that Paramount does the right thing and gives the follow-up the greenlight that it deserves. Prepare your orange mocha frappuccino celebrations accordingly.
