Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and its sequel from 2013, are a part of the pop-cultural zeitgeist, and collectively represent one of the most recognizable comedy franchises of the 21st century. Stemming from the original 2004 film directed and co-written by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, the Ron Burgundy character established a goofy take on news media culture as seen on local San Diego TV, before expanding the property’s satiric canvas to the realm of nationwide cable broadcasting, skewering 1970s culture in the process.
Even if the bigger, bolder, and R-rated Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues didn’t feature quiet as many immediately quotable lines or memorable frames of reference as its predecessor, fans would undoubtedly welcome a third film. As luck would have it, and while taking McKay’s previously stated intentions of refraining from any subsequent installments, the director might just have a winning concept for Anchorman 3 in mind despite himself.
During a recent conversation with Yahoo! Movies about his new drama The Big Short, McKay let it slip that he has mulled over certain big ideas and concepts for the Ron Burgundy character were he, Ferrell, and the rest of the KVWN Channel 4 news team to reassemble for a third film. When prodded with the possibility of taking Burgundy to the world of Internet news and media outlets, McKay responded:
“We talked about doing one that was about the rise of the new media. I also thought there was something to the idea, and who knows, maybe we will do one some day…But we’ve never got that serious about it, but it would have to be the next stage of what the media has become. And I think you’re right, I think it’s the internet. The only thing is by then Burgundy would be getting pretty old. So maybe it’s a movie we make in 10 years, when Will’s aged up and it actually makes sense that you can set it in 1997 or ’98.”
Taking Ferrell’s inept, sloppily misogynistic character to a world in a state of transition to a digitized news cycle is certainly a concept ripe for Burgundy to plunder. And given McKay’s seeming indulgence of the idea, perhaps a third sequel is not entirely off the table, yet.
It’s hard to imagine another studio comedy featuring Ron Burgundy as a particularly repellent idea, though many who left the theater after the second installment may require a little further incentive to put their money down for another exercise in rekindling the magic of the first feature. Either way, it may be a while before McKay and Ferrell are ready to explore where the character might be in the late 1990s, so there’s still plenty of time for reassessment of the last film’s respective merits and faults before moving forward with another project.
Screen Rant will keep you updated with any further information regarding Anchorman 3.
