Paramount Pictures, and Ferrell himself (on
The Tonight Show last night) have announced a new version is on the way with "763 new jokes." The "new" movie, the
trailer is linked here, is due out Feb. 28 and will be in theaters for one week. It will then, along with the original version, be released on video on April 1.
The new version won't be staying classy, not exactly, given that
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues: Super-Sized R-Rated Version will be just that, an 'R' rated version. The original film was rated 'PG 13'. So expect even raunchier jokes than the massive hard-on scene between Ferrell and co-star Christina Applegate.
During preparation for an extended version for home release, director Adam McKay said they came upon the idea of
replacing jokes with other jokes. The set had been a haven for ad-libbing, something Ferrell (who co-wrote the movie with McKay) is famous for.
"We started talking and realized, we can replace every single joke in the movie with another joke," the director said.
Doubt that 763 new joke claim? Well, the new version is 20 minutes longer than the old, so it clocks in at 140 minutes. That 140 minutes makes for 8,400 seconds so if there are 763 new jokes that makes for a new joke roughly every 11 seconds. For anybody else that is a tall order, but for Will Ferrell and character Ron Burgundy (along with Applegate, Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Steve Carell)...maybe.
If there are that many new jokes, a young fan of the film, Keelan, said that "it's practically not the same film anymore." New film or old film at heart, the new version will have a chance to add to the $125 million worth of business the original did in the U.S alone.
