UPDATE [28/04/2023]: It’s been a long time coming but we’re finally here. Deadline has confirmed Dodgeball 2 is going ahead over at 20th Century Studios with Vince Vaughn returning to star (“and likely produce”). The screenplay will be accomplished by Jordan VanDina (The Binge, 48 Hours In Vegas). What’s less certain at this stage, however, is who will direct the gestating comedy sequel, as well as the remaining cast members.
“While Rawson Marshall Thurber wrote and directed the original film for 20th Century Fox, it’s not yet clear whether he’ll be involved in the sequel, and who, if not Thurber, would direct,” notes Matt Grobar of Deadline, who broke the latest story development.
“Equally uncertain is who will join Vaughn on screen, though there’s certainly a deep bench of talent to pull from in looking back to Dodgeball‘s stacked ensemble, which included Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Justin Long, Stephen Root, Alan Tudyk, Joel David Moore, Chris Williams, Missi Pyle, Gary Cole, Jason Bateman, and William Shatner, as well as the late Rip Torn.”
That being said, progress is progress, and we cannot bloody wait.
UPDATE [5/12/2022]: During the premiere of his new comedy Christmas With The Campbells, Vince Vaughn revealed both he and Ben Stiller are open to returning for Dodgeball 2. Along with the following exciting update.
“They’ve always talked about these things forever and I had an idea that was fun and the studio likes it, so we’ll see where it goes,” Vince Vaughn told The Hollywood Reporter.
“I think Ben is open to doing it, I think he’s in the same boat as me actually which is if it’s a really fun and great idea, then that’s fun, but if it’s just something to go do it again, then why?”
“You would just want to make sure going into Dodgeball that it feels like a nice continuation and a story that could stand on its own. I think for all of us if it feels right and it’s funny, it would be something to go back to, and if it’s not, it’s just another idea getting kicked around.”
Original Article – ‘Dodgeball 2’ Is Pretty Much Ready To Go (It Just Needs Ben Stiller’s Approval)
18 years after Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn hit theatres, we’ve finally received an update on the possibility of Dodgeball 2.
You certainly don’t need Matt Damon to tell you they don’t make ’em like this anymore. But suffice it to say, the original is a classic sports comedy in the truest possible sense.
Written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber – who went on to make We’re The Millers, Central Intelligence, and Red Notice – it tells the story of rival gym owners White Goodman (Stiller) and Pete LaFleur (Vaughn), who face off in a dodgeball tournament to determine the fate of the latter’s struggling local business.
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As per the tried + true Hollywood formula, Pete LaFleur and the Average Joes eventually triumph over the cartoonishly villainous White Goodman and his Globo Gym franchise in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. So what exactly would a sequel entail?
According to cast member Justin Long, who portrayed Average Joes employee Justin Redman in the first instalment, Vince Vaughn already has it all figured out. In fact, by all accounts, Dodgeball 2 is pretty much good to go – pending Ben Stiller’s approval/commitment.
“I do a podcast with my brother called Life Is Short and when we had Ben Stiller on, and I asked Ben about this because I had just worked with Vince Vaughn again,” Justin Long revealed in conversation with ComicBook.com.
“Vince had been telling me that he has this great idea for a sequel. I don’t know if he had yet pitched it to Ben, but I kind of set up the pitch, I felt like I should facilitate the pitch.”
“Of course I would love to do it and I hope that it ends up happening, but I think Ben is a little, what he told me on that podcast was that he’s a little trepidatious about doing a sequel to something so beloved, something that people enjoy so much that.”
Ben Stiller, of course, knows better than anyone else about the dangers of producing sequels to a beloved property only to underwhelm on all fronts. Back in 2016, Paramount Pictures released Zoolander 2, which received mostly negative reviews, earning nine Razzie nominations, and proved to be quite a big box office bomb; generating less than $57 million in receipts against a $55 million budget. And it clearly doesn’t sting any less despite the years since.
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Long continued about Dodgeball 2: “It’s very risky, you don’t wanna shit on the original, you want something just as good. So I think he’s a little wary of that, of trying to recreate something that was very specific to that time, but I hope he comes around on it. Vince is a very convincing person, so I’m just hoping Vince can convince him with his idea. It’s a funny idea, I don’t wanna say what it is.”
“I know Ben loves Dodgeball and loves that character. I remember how much fun he had playing it. He was always laughing. When we got together years later to do a little mini reunion for this charity and Ben put on the moustache again I remember him talking about how how happy it made him playing White Goodman again and how much fun that character was. I do know that Vince has a great idea for it and it’s just a matter of getting Ben on board.”
It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ’em.
Side Note: not that this really improves our chances of actually seeing Dodgeball 2 or anything but interestingly enough, the production already has an official IMDb page (which you can keep an eye on here).
