Watch the outtakes during the end credits of the first Anchorman movie and the wildly improvisational nature of the performances is quite clear. No line, it seems, is delivered without Will Ferrell and his pals firing off another fifteen options, just to give director Adam McKay something to work with.
Somehow, an entire plot involving a Dog Day Afternoon-style bank heist was filmed then jettisoned, and that formed the backbone of the semi-sequel, Wake Up Ron Burgundy, which was released on DVD in 2004 (it is now available on Blu-ray as part of the ‘Rich Mahogany Edition’).
Fans of Anchorman 2 won’t even have to wait until the DVD release to slake their thirst for Burgundy, since Paramount are taking the very unusual step of releasing a new extended cut straight into cinemas. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Continued promises 763 new jokes, give or take. Of these 763, at least some of the new jokes are lewd and rude enough to have earned it an R rating in the States – clearly we are made of stronger stuff as the original 15 certificate hasn’t been upgraded in the UK.
One example of the newly instated one-liners is on display in the trailer: Paul Rudd’s perfumed ladykiller Brian Fantana asking a couple of bikini’d beauties, ‘Caff or decaf. I need to know how I’m going to make your coffee in the morning when you wake up in my pants.’ There’s also a snippet of an elaborate musical, ‘That’s The Gay Way,’ which actor David Koechner will be happy to see has finally made the cut. The Champ Kind star told Rolling Stone magazine last year, ‘There’s a big musical number that was shot but it didn’t make the movie. It broke my heart. We seriously made an effort to Kill Bill this movie and put it out in two parts but it just didn’t work.’
Not everyone will be delighted to hear about an extended version of Anchorman 2. While it has already made 9m around the world, the critical consensus was that it spread its premise pretty thin, with a crowded, multi-celebrity scuffle coming in for particular flak.
UK and US audiences won’t have long to make up their minds as the ‘Bigger Boldier Burgundier’ version of Anchorman 2 is released on February 28th for one week only.
