Anchorman 2 director Adam McKay has revealed he shot enough extra footage to make an alternate version of the film featuring all-new jokes.
The comedy sequel, officially titled Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, follows Will Ferrell‘s ’70s news anchor Ron Burgundy as he launches a comeback on a 24-hour network in ’80s New York. It opens in cinemas on December 20 and a pair of new trailers have just been released.
Speaking to Empire about the film, McKay explained: “We did so much improv on this one that we can literally replace every single joke in the movie and put in alt scenes and alt improv runs. I think the editor’s working on it right now, with 250 new jokes.”
McKay then mooted the idea of releasing the alternate version, saying: “I think it would be really funny to put it in theatres for midnight showings. I know that I personally, if I loved a movie and someone told me that, like if Airplane! had been released with all-new jokes, I’d be like, ‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!’ I’d see it in a second.”
Alongside Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Paul Rudd and Christina Applegate have all reprised their roles from the first Anchorman film, while James Marsden appears as a rival news anchor and Kristen Wiig has also joined the cast as the wife of Carell’s character, Brick.
Meanwhile, Kanye West has filmed a cameo appearance and his improvisational skills drew praise from McKay. “He was great and he was funny. He came up with a couple good lines on his own,” the director recalled recently. Drake and Green Day make guest appearances in the sequel too – as do Harrison Ford, Nicole Kidman, Liam Neeson, Tina Fey and Sacha Baron Cohen.