Movie Rumors: Ron Burgundy To Return? ‘Anchorman 3’ In The Works?

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy has become a cult classic since its release back in 2004, and a sequel to the ’70s-skewering satire was all but inevitable. It took nine years but in 2013, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues hit cinema screens to divided opinion. The film reacquainted fans with everyone’s favorite bumbling newsreaders, but it didn’t develop smoothly — which is why the announcement of a potential third movie in the Anchorman series comes as quite a surprise.

Paramount released the movie, but they were initially reluctant to do so. In 2010, as reported by Slash Film, the studio turned down a proposed sequel to Anchorman, despite the cast offering to take huge pay cuts to bring the sequel to life. Director Adam McKay tweeted the following message in response to this.

“So bummed. Paramount basically passed on Anchorman 2. Even after we cut our budget down. We tried.”

However, the world of Hollywood is never simple, and the sequel was developed and finally released in 2013. The film didn’t fare very well at the box office — it only grossed $173.6 million worldwide — but it tripled its budget on return, which is obviously good enough to get the rumors circulating on a third installment. This week, despite previous reports denying any such movie, Adam McKay mentioned that he was reconsidering a return to the chaos of mustachioed news reporting.

The director previously dismissed a third outing in an interview with Empire back in 2014.

“It’s done. I think that’s it. It was great to do it and it was so fun to work with those guys again, but I think that’s it for Ron Burgundy. No, that’s the last sequel we’re gonna do. There’s nothing more fun to me than new characters and a new world. And now we’re releasing this alt version, we’re totally satisfied. No Anchorman 3.”

In recent weeks, he has performed a creative U-turn, admitting it would be fun to direct the third installment at some point in the future. The jury is still out and nothing is confirmed, but the third movie would possibly see Ron Burgundy and company trying to cope with the biggest of technological waves — the internet. Speaking to Yahoo Movies, McKay revealed his feelings on the movie, one that is clearly close to his heart.

“That was what we kind of talked about. We talked about doing one that was about the rise of the new media. I also thought there was something to the idea – and who knows, maybe we will do one some day – I also thought it’d be cool to have Ron Burgundy get embedded in the Iraq War. We kicked around that idea. But we’ve never got that serious about it, but it would have to be the next stage of what the media has become.”

When asked to elaborate further, McKay had an answer, one that should have fans of the movie relishing a comeback, despite it possibly taking another decade or so.

“I think it’s the Internet. The only thing is by then Burgundy would be getting pretty old. So maybe it’s a movie we make in 10 years, when Will’s aged up and it actually makes sense that you can set it in 1997 or ’98.”

Considering the average person’s reaction to the unveiling of the internet, we can expect some hilarious moments if Ron Burgundy ever comes across this change in technology. Anchorman 2 witnessed the rise of the 24-hour news cycle and portrayed Burgundy’s typically insane response to it, one that produced some outstanding comedy moments. Considering that the third movie would continue the natural progression to real-life developments and changes, and if McKay can find it in his heart to develop a third movie, the third installment could be the zaniest and most outlandish yet. After all, which normal person wasn’t infuriated by the concept and speed of dial-up?

Will we see another Ron Burgundy movie? Will Anchorman return to our screens? With the popularity of the characters and the actors involved, not to mention a dedicated fanbase, Anchorman 3 could be more a case of when rather than how. If McKay’s comments are anything to go by, though, we could be in for a long wait. If you want to catch up on the previous installments in the franchise, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues are both available on DVD and Blu-ray now.

[Image via Paramount Pictures]