If there’s anything better at creating mixed feelings than the recent return to the comedy well, it doesn’t exist in the movie universe. Is it great to see Anchorman 2 coming our way? Definitely. Would it have been better without the middling years in between for Will Ferrell? Absolutely. Is it sort of cool to see Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson pair up Wedding Crashers-style at Google? Yeah, sort of. But a feature commercial for Google? Ersh. Even the sequel for Zoolander seemed promising despite the hope/urge that we’d also get to see something new and just as exciting as earlier hits from these world-class comedians.
And now a Dodgeball sequel? It’s a great universe to return to, and this time around I won’t be surrounded by frat guys endlessly quoting it, but it’s just, you know, really? Is this where we’re at? Is this what the biggest players in comedy are having to do? We get Hangover on repeat, Tyler Perry and rehashes of stuff from a decade ago?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stiller’s production company Red Hour has hired Clay Tarver (the writer/director of Joy Ride and director of a few Upright Citizens Brigade episodes) to write a script where Stiller’s and Vaughn’s character team up to conquer a bigger enemy. Theoretically on the dodgeball court. Fox is on board, and although they’ve just hired a writer, it’s unclear whether director Rawson Thurber will return. Or whether the fanbase — now inundated by decades-later comedy sequels — will be able to build anything more than mild enthusiasm for the project. What’s the over/under on Tropic Thunder 2 being announced?