Paramount announced today that Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues will hit theaters in December 2013. In other words, one year from now we’re all getting an invitation to the pants party.
The sequel to the hit 2004 comedy will be a welcome Christmas present for the movie’s legions of fans and should be a nice change of pace from the typical Oscar fare that appears during the winter months.
Because of the first film’s strong cult following, excitement for Anchorman 2 has been high for a while. However, when the teaser trailers for the sequel came out, anticipation for the movie entered another atmosphere (even though it won’t be about witches, as Steve Carell’s Brick Tamland hilariously suggests).
It will be a tall order for Anchorman 2 to reach the same level of success as the first film, but the alleged plot has a ton of promise. Set in the early 1980s, Anchorman 2 will reportedly show the news team’s struggle to adjust to a new world where 24-hour news channels are coming into vogue and replacing the influence of local news stations,
As director Adam McKay explained earlier this year:
“All of a sudden, local news stations diversified and had Latino anchors and African-American anchors, and any time you’re talking about diversity and the Action News team, that’s always fun to deal with.”
Basically, Anchorman 2 is following the classic “same, but different” sequel formula. In this case, several characters who are stuck in their ways are forced to adapt to a new reality. In the first movie, it was the addition of a female anchorwoman. In this film, it will be the introduction of the 24-hour news channel. Some will argue that no good can come from this approach, but the truth is that the plot is really just a framework for Will Ferrell and team to goof around and ad-lib hilarious lines.
When you factor in some of the new faces that could appear in the film, including the incredibly talented Kristen Wiig, and the promise of full musical numbers, there’s potential for Anchorman 2 to be even funnier than the original movie.
What do you think of Anchorman 2? Will you be lining up for the movie next December?
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues has a release date of December 20th, 2013.