Adam McKay reveals that his plot idea for a potential Anchorman 3 would take famed fictional journalist Ron Burgundy and embed him in a combat zone - as real life U.S. reporters did during the Iraq Wars.
Will Ferrell played the cocky newsreader in both 2004’s Anchorman and 2013’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Becoming known for its zany comedy, quick one-liners, and impressive supporting cast, the Anchorman movies have gathered quite a following over the year, so why wouldn’t we want another entry? As The Legend Returns ended with both Ron and his wife Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) heading into a fresh era of news, it teased a possible trilogy of movies; though the idea seems to have ended there.
Now, speaking to Cinema Blend, McKay has revealed that he does indeed have a firm idea for the plot of Anchorman 3, should it come to pass:
“I can give you like a little half sentence. I don’t know if you remember the first and even the second Iraq war. Maybe it was mainly the second Iraq war. They embedded journalists and that gave us kind of a whole story idea… I don’t want to say too much, but I’ll just tell you that embedded journalist, Ron Burgundy, Veronica Corningstone, the news team. That definitely gave us a big idea.”
McKay had previously toyed with the idea of embedding Burgundy and his colleagues in conflict, but the fact that he is still talking about it suggests that this is where the next movie would head, as opposed to being yet another takedown of modern U.S. news. There were once ideas for chauvinistic Ron to take on the rise of online news, but it sounds like McKay is now warmer on the idea of wartime reporting instead.
For now, however, Anchorman 3 is little more than a pipe dream for the franchise’s loyal fans. Although Ferrell has teased that Anchorman 3 could happen in “a few years” in the past, McKay has indicated in the past that he’s done making sequels. We’ve also seen movies like Whiskey Tango Foxtrot tread into embedded journalist territory before, though Anchorman 3 would presumably be much more of a slapstick affair by comparison. While it certainly sounds like an interesting idea, the second Iraq war started back in 2003, meaning it’s storyline that might’ve been funnier a few years ago.
At least if a third movie were ever to see the light of day, the team behind Anchorman have an idea of where they would go next. McKay is pretty set for now, but can you only imagine the sheer abundance of material if McKay and Ferrell were to tackle the country’s take on political news in this era of President Trump. No matter what though, Anchorman 2 earned mostly positive reviews and was a box office success, earning $173 million against a $50 million budget. We’re sure fans would be happy to spray on some Sex Panther and head back to theaters for another outing.
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Source: Cinema Blend
