Zoolander 2

[MacGuffin]

Stiller returns for Zoolander sequel - mod creams his pants
Source: Moviehole

Ben Stiller confirmed to USA Today that - as Owen Wilson told Moviehole a couple of years ago – he's exploring the idea of a "Zoolander" sequel.

The spoof on the fashion industry, released in 2001, has been quite the hit on DVD (and did moderate business on its theatrical run – opening the weekend after September 11), and so New Line has apparently contacted Stiller and co-star Owen Wilson about doing a follow-up.

Stiller had previously said that although he'd be interested in doing a "Zoolander 2", he'd find it difficult – for numerous reasons. "I would love to do a Zoolander sequel. There are a couple of obstacles - one is the studio hasn't asked! That's the biggest one! I'm waiting for them to ask; I don't want to go to them. The other, bigger obstacle is that Drake Sather, who created the character, passed away, really tragically. He was a really good friend of mine, and it's hard for me to figure out how to do it. He created the character, then me, John Hamburg and him wrote the script. So that's frustrating to me that he's not there, because he was the heart and soul of all the shorts and the script. I think John and I could address it, but that really took the wind out of my sails for a bit.".

Perceptibly Stiller's stumbled upon some inspiration from elsewhere.

[modage]

This news made my day.

[MacGuffin]

Justin Theroux Readying 'Zoolander 2' For Ben Stiller And Paramount: Will Owen Join Them?
By Nikki Finke; Deadline Hollywood
 
EXCLUSIVE: What's better than being really, really ridiculously good-looking like Zoolander? Being really, really ridiculously good-looking in the 2001 cult classic's sequel. Finally, Paramount and Ben Stiller are pulling together a PG-13 Zoolander 2 with Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2 writer Justin Theroux who'll also direct. I've learned that Ben and Justin are working on the script together, and Theroux is going to Fashion Week in Paris to "immerse himself on what is current in fashion". "It's got momentum," a studio source just told me. Everyone's hoping Owen Wilson co-stars again but no deal is set. The villain likely will be Jonah Hill who's in negotiations.

If you remember, Zoolander came out on September 28, 2001, right after 9/11 so no one ever saw the pic in theaters. But it was a hot DVD and is still a bestseller on iTunes. And when Ben Stiller goes overseas, he's always asked to do "Blue Steel" which is saying a lot about a movie that earned only $45M domestic and $16M international because of its lousy timing. The problem is that no one's sure what the sequel can do because the original was so thwarted. Paramount wants to keep the budget below $50M so what's being discussed is some upfront reductions in exchange for bigger upsides. And yet everyone still really wants to do the pic in order to bring Derek and Hanzel to life again.

[children with angels]

This is weird:

Paramount and Ben Stiller are pulling together a PG-13 Zoolander 2

I know studios aim for certain ratings for certain movies, but how can they actually announce it ahead of time?

[matt35mm]

Contractual obligation to deliver a rating.  If it gets rated R, then they would re-edit and re-apply to get a PG-13 rating.  The film is not officially rated until the studio accepts the rating, so they're basically saying that they will only accept a PG-13 rating.

[Stefen]

I'm surprised it took this long.

[Pubrick]

Contractual obligation to deliver a rating.  If it gets rated R, then they would re-edit and re-apply to get a PG-13 rating.  The film is not officially rated until the studio accepts the rating, so they're basically saying that they will only accept a PG-13 rating.

obviously that's because PG-13 is the most commercially viable rating. it allows some adult humour but can still dip its toes safely in the under 13 market.

what's really idiotic is the thinking behind this. obviously the theatrical run of Zoolander failed because of 9/11, everyone knows that.. even Mariah Carey knows that. but can studio meat heads not tell the difference between a bona-fide cult-due-to-circumstances-but-really-destined-for-mainstream CLASSIC, with fans as varied as fashion icons to Terence Malick, and GLITTER?

EVERYONE will want to see a new zoolander, the first one is just about the funniest film of the decade (if memory serves, havn't rewatched it in a few).

[MacGuffin]

I'm surprised it took this long.

I'm surprised mod didn't reply. I made this thread for him. 

[polkablues]

He had to take his pants to the dry-cleaners.

[children with angels]

Yeah, I guess the PG-13 isn't that mysterious or unusual. I was just thinking, given that it works the other way too and films trade off having higher ratings too - like A Nightmare on Elm Street:

Make no mistake about it this is a R-rated movie.

Do people know of instances where a film has been handed a lower rating than desired and the filmmakers have gone back and INSERTED material?

[modage]

I'm surprised it took this long.

I'm surprised mod didn't reply. I made this thread for him. 

It's been so long, I'm not sure I want to see this anymore.   

[matt35mm]

Do people know of instances where a film has been handed a lower rating than desired and the filmmakers have gone back and INSERTED material?

I might be wrong but I think that's what happened with Snakes on a Plane.  It was originally going to be PG-13, and due to the pre-release fandamonium, they went full B-movie and added nudity, violence, and Sam Jackson saying the motherfucking snakes on the motherfucking plane line, which wasn't there before.

[MacGuffin]

EXCLUSIVE: 'Zoolander 2' Set '10 Years Later,' Derek And Hansel Must 'Reinvent Themselves,' Mugatu Back 'If Will Says Yes'
Source: MTV

Last week brought the amazing news that finally, after almost a decade, Ben Stiller is thinking seriously about a "Zoolander" sequel. He's currently writing it with "Iron Man 2" scribe Justin Theroux, who will also direct. That's the news as we had it last week.

Well we chatted up Stiller over the weekend at the junket for "Greenberg," the upcoming comedy he stars in for writer/director Noah Baumbach. He had quite a bit to say about the coming return of his iconic male model parody. Why it's taken so long for a sequel, where the story will go, who we can expect to see return... maybe not everything you want to know, but lots of juicy info nonetheless.

"Yes, it is true," Stiller confirmed of the sequel plans. "We are in the process of getting a script written. It's in the early stages, but it's gonna happen. We've been trying for years to... figure it out. It'll have input from all the... 'Zoolander' people. It's just... taken awhile."

Stiller also confirmed that he's working with Theroux on putting it all together, though he pulled up short of calling it a co-written collaboration. "Other people have worked on the script," he explained. "There have been earlier scripts that ['Zoolander' writer John] Hamburg's had input on, and Nick Stoller and people... we're just going to take the best of what we have."

Most importantly: Stiller and his "'Zoolander' people" now have a starting point to work from. "We have a new story idea that we feel excited about and we're going to try to go forward," he said. "The beginning of the movie is [set]... 10 years later, and Derek & Hansel are literally forgotten. Nobody even knows who they are, so they have to re-invent themselves."

Since this is a story about the world of fashion, whatever's written will have to reflect how people who have been out of the loop would return to an industry that changes seasonally after 10 years. "Well I think it has to be [a 'Zoolander' for a new generation]," Stiller explained. "The fashion world, you know, you go away for a year and its changed. It just happens so quickly."

The biggest roadblock for Stiller's return to the character has been the absence of its creator. "The tough thing over the years has just been that Drake Sather, who created the character, is not around anymore," he explained. Sather, a former "Saturday Night Live" and "Dennis Miller Show" writer, died in 2004 in an apparent suicide. "For a long time that was, for me, that hardest thing to figure out how to move forward through."

Of course, one of the biggest questions that remains is whether or not Will Ferrell's Malaysia-hating fashion designer Mugatu will return. "If Will says yes, he definitely has to be a part of it," Stiller said. "To me, Mugatu is one of the classic screen villains of all time."

[MacGuffin]

Next Sequel Canned via Twitter: 'Zoolander 2'? (UPDATED)
by Christopher Campbell; Cinematical

A few days after Adam McKay revealed on Twitter that plans for Anchorman 2 have been canceled by Paramount, Ben Stiller sent out another Tweet in which he placed Zoolander 2 in the same boat. Here's the exact message: "Ron Burgandy and Derek Zoolander looking to appear in sequels. Both men are destitute, without means or intellect to fund their own comebacks." Zoolander 2 was also being set up at Paramount, so it would appear the studio is either having a hard time justifying the worth of late follow-ups to some of the biggest cult comedies of the last decade or they just wanted to see what happens when two of the biggest egos in film are crushed simultaneously (I mean the characters, of course, not the stars).

Don't start writing your "eugoogoly" for the Zoolander franchise just yet, though. Stiller is admitting to funding problems, but that doesn't mean the thing is completely dead. If Paramount doesn't want it, though, maybe some other studio or production company can come around and see the value in the property. Unfortunately, as The Playlist points out, just as Anchorman 2 can't be taken to another studio because Paramount owns it, the same is somewhat true for this sequel. Paramount could sell the rights to someone else, but that might be too costly. As addressed by our own Zoolander-loving Monika (she discussed the original in a recent Cinematical Movie Club installment, by the way) back when Z2 was officially announced, the first film didn't do so well at the box office. And even if many of us have watched and watched and watched Zoolander on TV or the DVD we got at Target on sale for less than $10, cult comedies just don't seem lucrative.

Perhaps the thing for Stiller to do is team up with Will Ferrell for a joint sequel. A sort of Alien vs. Predator thing, only less violent (unless Brick and his triton are back for more kills). Each actor could play dual roles, Ferrell as Burgandy and Mugatu, Stiller as Zoolander and Arturo Mendes, the anchor of the Spanish-language news. Oh wait, there's the matter of the characters residing in different decades. Time travel! Just kidding, what I'd really like is for both actors to walk away from these dead sequels happy that they're not going to stretch their beloved characters thin a la Austin Powers and Clark Griswold. Surely they have other great characters up their sleeves.

Update: According to Deadline, neither Anchorman 2 nor Zoolander 2 are necessarily kaput, and Paramount is interested in continuing production on both if each costs no more than $40 million. Apparently A2 is looking at a budget closer to $70 million, possibly due to salary demands. The report also acknowledges a big issue for studios these days: neither of the originals did well overseas. Should everyone take pay cuts and give the fans more or move on to the next ideas?

[MacGuffin]

Writer Justin Theroux Says 'Zoolander' Script Is 'In Good Shape,' Teases Return Of Will Ferrell's Fashion Mogul Mugatu
Source: The Playlist

Last we heard, Ben Stiller was working with fellow actor/writer/director Justin Theroux on a sequel to his cult hit, 2003's fashion industry comedy "Zoolander." Appearing at NYCC for David Gordon Green's "Your Highness" now, Theroux has provided several updates on the sequel. The gestating script is described as being in "good shape right now. I'm feeling very optimistic about it. We're doing a few little tweaks before we submit it, but I'm very hopeful that I'm going to be working on that soon," Theroux told MTV. As previously mentioned, the sequel will be set 10 years after the original and will begin with Derek Zoolander (Stiller) and rival-turned-partner Hansel (Owen Wilson, whose return sounds more likely now) "in a pretty bad place. They're about to ring 40's bell. They have to claw their way back into the fashion industry in some way or another." We're sure some of Theroux's attempts to hook with up models research at Paris Fashion Week will come into play here. And what about a return from fashion mogul Jacobim Mugatu, played in the original by Will Ferrell? "Fingers crossed, anything is possible in Hollywood, but I think you're going to see Mugatu. We are planning on seeing Mugatu. There are a couple new villains that step onto the stage, which we are all very happy about. And yes, Jonah is the inspiration for one of them." Theroux is referring, of course, to a villain set to be portrayed by Jonah Hill. The actor has been in discussion for role and told us at SXSW that he has also had involvement with the creation and development of the character. Hill did, however, reiterate that nothing is set in stone just yet and —judging by the fact Theroux doesn't exactly sell the actor's involvement —we presume it's still only early days. The same can probably be said for the project as a whole but, fingers crossed, things will pan out well.