EXCLUSIVE: What’s better than being really, really ridiculously good-looking like Zoolander? Being really, really ridiculously good-looking in the 2001 cult classic’s sequel. Finally, Paramount and Ben Stiller are pulling together a PG-13 Zoolander 2 with Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2 writer Justin Theroux who’ll also direct. I’ve learned that Ben and Justin are working on the script together, and Theroux is going to Fashion Week in Paris to “immerse himself on what is current in fashion”. “It’s got momentum,” a studio source just told me. Everyone’s hoping Owen Wilson co-stars again but no deal is set. The villain likely will be Jonah Hill who’s in negotiations.
If you remember, Zoolander came out on September 28, 2001, right after 9/11 so no one ever saw the pic in theaters. But it was a hot DVD and is still a bestseller on iTunes. And when Ben Stiller goes overseas, he’s always asked to do “Blue Steel” which is saying a lot about a movie that earned only $45M domestic and $16M international because of its lousy timing. The problem is that no one’s sure what the sequel can do because the original was so thwarted. Paramount wants to keep the budget below $50M so what’s being discussed is some upfront reductions in exchange for bigger upsides. And yet everyone still really wants to do the pic in order to bring Derek and Hanzel to life again.
Fascinating…I was at Paramount when this movie was in development and Stiller was furious that he was committed to it after the unexpected smash success of MEET THE PARENTS. Did everything he could to get out but couldn’t. Must be for the $$$ because I thought this movie haunted him.
That doesn’t make sense considering he wrote, produced and directed it.
Don’t forget — Stiller is an actor. And they’re all batshit crazy. Remember Mike Meyers was supposed to do a feature version of his SNL character Dieter. But after the success Austin Powers he was so high and mighty he demanded script approval. And when it came in he said — no I’m not doing that movie. And he wrote the fucking script himself!
Yeah, that was my reaction, too.
lol another sad lie exposed…
i hope that you’re mistaken. zoolander has been my favorite movie ever since it came out! that would crush my dreams :(
Zoolander 2? Are you kidding? Please no, do not encourage this garbage.
Orange Mocha Frappachino!!!!! If you are a fan of True Blood, the guy who plays Eric is one of Derek’s buddies at the beginning of the film. It’s hilarious.
hell yes f*cking Eric!
Really? Furious about it? Haunting him? For the $$$? Have you listened to the commentary? Have you heard him talk about the film and the character at any time since it came out? He’s always been fond of it, and proud of it too, silly as it is.
He may have been furious about committing to it BEFORE “Parents” came out, because he would have been in a better negotiating position after it. As it was, he probably accepted to do the film for virtually no pay and a low budget…and he probably agreed to those terms because he REALLY WANTED TO DO THE MOVIE. Anyone with half a brain and a minimum level of emotional intelligence can tell Ben Stiller loves this film, the characters, and the people involved in making it.
Really excited until I read the Jonah Hill part.
Agreed. I can’t stand Jonah Hill. Not sure why people think he is so funny. More like awkward and creepy
Some of you are flipping retarded if you don’t think Jonah hill is funny. That’s like saying newcomers to a sport aren’t supposed to be there give the guy the respect he deserve
The “retarded” slurs are not cool. Do all of you enjoy using the N-word as well? Grow up.
Really Nikki? That’s why it tanked?, you’re blaming it on 9/11? It wasn’t b/c the movie sucks and is beyond ridiculous and over the top? Hilarious and clueless.
Exactly. Thank you. I cringed so hard watching it. Only people who like it are half retarded college students and ex-frat boy stoners — who unfortunately make up a large segment of DVD/ITunes buying segment.
This is one of my favorite movies and I am not a half retarded college student, I actually graduated college with a 3.60 gpa, and I am not a stoner either..and a lot of my friends are the same as me and find this movie hilarious.. it depends on the the type of humor certain people have. For me, I have a very easy sense of humor, as in stupid little things make me laugh.. where others have that dry sense of humor (certain people found ‘little miss sunshine’ funny, as I didn’t, because I don’t have a dry sense of humor). Not saying that there is anything wrong with that but it just depends on the person. So I completely disagree with you comment because it’s very false
Same here Cindy, not retarded (or maybe unaware of it), multiple diplomas, still loved Zoolander. I would never say it is a masterpiece, but as long as I enjoy a movie, I am not ashamed to say it and defend it. Looking forward to a sequel.
The gas station sequence is probably one of the funniest scene ever shot (but hey, I might be retarded, and I am a foreigner, so don’t take my word for it).
Zoolander is awesome, and I’m another fan who’s neither a frat boy nor a stoner – never have been, never will. It wasn’t that funny to me the first time I saw it, but it made me laugh more and more with each viewing. If you don’t find it funny, fine (you may have not taken the time to like it, just a hint), but assuming people are retarded for liking it makes you just that – retarded. I know people with genius IQ levels (I’m not one, but I’m certainly above average) who love it.
Now, keep in mind, I’m not calling people I’ve never met retarded for not liking it, I’m calling you specifically a retard.
But I should actually thank you, because you are an endless source of comedy – there is nothing funnier than someone stupid who’s convinced they’re intelligent.
I graduated from Miami University in Ohio which is considered a “public ivy” and my best friend is currently a graduate student studying physics at Stanford. We, along with many other very smart people, love this movie. As someone who loves comedies, especially satires, I can’t stand individuals who don’t get it. Particularly when they claim that “Only people who like it are half retarded college students and ex-frat boy stoners”. Oh and since you are so smart if you could use proper grammer and place a “The” in front of that statement it would be great.
really, i disagree. i know quite a few people who love that movie and they are more than likely A LOT smarter than you are.
I’m sorry. Are you retarded?
I had a desk at William Morris when 9/11 went down. Everything in Hollywood shut down. Madonna canceled her show at Staples. EVERYTHING stopped. EVERYTHING.
Though I personally find that movie hysterical, I must put my personal opinion aside and beg you, LITERALLY BEG you to stay off these boards, go back to your drama class in Ohio and bury your head back up your ass.
Your totally clueless comment clearly shows that you weren’t there.
PS – I have absolutely no affiliation with ZOOLANDER or Ben Stiller. None at all. I just can’t stand comments this offensively ignorant. This idiot would state that the drop in Thailand’s hotel biz wouldn’t have been affected by the tsunami. Moron…
Madonna just re-scheduled, she never slacks off. I went the Sep 14. It was great.
If someone has to stay out off the boards, it is probably you. I LITTERALLY BEG you to LITTERALLY and FIGURATIVELY read your own comment and reflect on the form because the substance is so lost in it. Ignorant or not, that opinion brings more to the discussion them your hysterical and ugly rant.
@Really? You are assuming that American movie audiences in 2001 were not interested in beyond ridiculous and over the top.
They were though.
And every 20-something I know loves this movie.
I think you’re the outlier here.
And Hansel, so hot right now … still!
hey numb nuts! The whole point of the movie was to be over the top, just look at what it is ridiculing… the fashion industry! And yes, 9/11 had a lot to do with it. Box office receipts in general suffered shortly after. You’re probably offended by the movie cause you’re in the fashion industry. You’re like all those metal bands in the early 90’s who hated “This is Spinal Tap” because they knew how over the top they were.
It was moderately successful considering it was released right after 9/11… which any other time would have been a tank.
If Theroux is reading this he needs to not make Jonah Hill the villian and somehow get Mugatu to escape from Prison. Mugatu is one of the staples of Zoolander, a sequel without Will would be moronic.
Hansel is still so hot!
No mention of the late great Drake Sather? (Original screenwriter.)
For shame!
Unfortunately, the sequel can’t involve original writer Drake Sather, who took his own life in 2004 in the middle of depression. Sather was also a writer on Newsradio, The Larry Sanders Show and Ed. He created with Ben the Derek Zoolander character in a segment for the MTV Fashion Awards, or whatever it’s called, and was responsible for my favorite scene in the movie, the freak gasoline accident. The third writer for the original movie was the very uneven John Hamburg, a guy who wrote Meet The Parents and I Love You, Man but also the awful Along Came Polly and the awful Meet The Fockers.
Justin Theroux previously directed the very funny “Heart of Darkness” spoof about Tropic Thunder, “Rain of Madness”, which had some sequences arguably than Thunder, including the Post Platoon Stress Disorder therapy.
You’re an idiot
And, Drake Sather before his writing career took off was a remarkably good stand up comic.
I FEEL LIKE I’M TAKING CRAZY PILLS
lulzzzz
I caught Zoolander in the theater while living in NYC right after 9/11. I’ll always appreciate that movie as being one of the first things that made me forget about what just happened for at least a few minutes. I’m pretty sure everyone else in the theater felt that way, too.
Glad to hear another one is coming.
Rob – I was living in a commuter town in CT during 9/11. Like you, I have very fond memories of laughing while watching Zoolander, after weeks of feeling sure I’d never be able to laugh again. I bet there are many of us with that fond appreciation.
Hoooolyyyyyy shit.
I hope Alexander Skarsgard’s Meekus makes a cameo as a ghost.
I so agree with that!
Magnum.
It’s a walk-off.
really wasn’t that funny the first time – i know people love this movie but ill be damned if I know why
Maybe people liked it because they have a sense of humour and don’t expect every movie they see to be like breaking rocks. It was silly and funny. But i wonder if without Sather a second can work. Or if even were he still around you could repeat something like this.
Its a fragile thing.
I never thought it was all that funny, other than a few scenes/gags/lines.
Also, I’m sure Paramount has an idea of what it can do theatrically, based on DVD and digital sales.
If this movie ever comes to fruition, I could see it easily doing $100million+ Pretty much every person 18-29 has seen it and quotes it endlessly. One of those films that really exploded on DVD.
It’s IN the computer??
Jonah Hill? Really? What, there’s not another actor in Hwood? How about Donald Glover from Community? That guy is hilarious, fresh and not overexposed!
YES PLEASE. Donald Glover is hilarious.
It will do really well. I would put this movie in the general vicinity of Tommy Boy, Office Space, the first Austin Power- to a lesser degree – of films that did little theatrically yet many people have seemingly memorized. Earth to Matilda, The Derek Zoolander School for People Who Can’t Read Good, Billy Zane, the Edge of Wetness. When my daughter coughed this morning “I got the black lung pop” came to mind. I’m with Mr. 100mil+on this one.
Excuse me, I’m going to go get a life.
Channing Tatum should be involved in this movie. His acting is reminiscent of Zoolander’s modeling.
*perfect
Awesome! I’ve been waiting for this sequel for a long time!
My kids absolutely love this movie. They and their high school/college friends seem to have almost the entire dialogue of the movie memorized. They will repeat the lines and laugh till they drop no matter if it’s the thousandth time they’ve acted it out. It’s a cult appeal similar to what I had with Rocky Horror Picture Show when I was that age. (BTW, I think it’s laugh riot too. OW at his quirkiest.)
YES! I LOVE “Zoolander”! So glad I saw it in the theater right when it came out. It is like the perfect ideal comedy.
Sorry they waited so long to make a sequel. Mugatu is Ferrel’s best role, Derek Zoolander is Ben Stiller’s best role. And I literally cannot disassociate the Hansel character from Owen Wilson: I cannot help but imagine that Owen Wilson really is like that character in real life.
I saw this movie twice in the theaters and I still love it just as much today as I did then. I am not big on sequels, but I would love to see this one!
Milla Jovovich’s Katinka character needs to come back.
Really looking forward to this! Zoolander was one of my favorite movies of the decade. Definitely the most quotable movie in years.