Actor tells MTV News the studio is 'indifferent to any sort of public outcry.'By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
Will Ferrell
Photo: MTV News
Covering the saga of "Anchorman 2" is kind of like viewing Panda Watch in '70s-era San Diego: Not a whole lot happens, yet you can't look away.
Five months after MTV News broke the news that negotiations by Will Ferrell and "Anchorman" director Adam McKay with Paramount for a sequel to their 2004 comedy had collapsed, we're still waiting and watching, hoping for good news.
Earlier this month, a small nugget of good news seemed to come in the form of McKay's comment to Collider that fan outcry had helped in their push to get "Anchorman 2" made. Was Paramount closer to getting onboard? Not at all, Ferrell told us.
"Nope," he said at the Toronto International Film Festival promoting "Everything Must Go." "Paramount, which is owned by your parent company, Viacom — so maybe [chairman] Sumner [Redstone] can get involved here in this — but they seem indifferent to any sort of public outcry for this."
The sticking point all along has been an inability to agree on a budget. Ferrell and his co-stars — including Paul Rudd and Steve Carell — cut their salaries, but Paramount remained wary of green-lighting a sequel to a film that was hardly a blockbuster in theaters and only took off on DVD and cable.
" 'Austin Powers' didn't make a ton of money in its first go-round, and then it caught fire in the next one," McKay told us he'd argued.
But Paramount was not convinced, and the sequel collapsed. While McKay holds out hope that the studio might eventually reconsider, Ferrell seems convinced "Anchorman 2" is not to be.
"It's very flattering to us," he said of the fan support. "We love it, but apparently, they don't care."
Check out everything we've got on "Anchorman: The Legend of Run Burgundy."
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