Dodgeball 2 Is Officially Underway At 20th Century Studios, Vince Vaughn Returning
It's finally happening: "Dodgeball: A True Underdog" is getting a sequel and, what's more, Vince Vaughn will be returning as Peter La Fleur. The original comedy came out nearly 20 years ago back in 2004 and was a big hit in its day. Naturally, there was lots of talk of a sequel that never actually materialized. Now though, Vaughn has committed to the film and it is in development at 20th Century Studios, with a new writer on board.
According to Deadline, Vaughn will star in and possibly produce the sequel, which does not yet have an official title. Jordan VanDina ("The Binge") has been tapped to pen the screenplay, working from an idea that Vaughn cooked up himself. It is described as being in "early" development, so there's no word yet on a director or plot details. Rawson Marshall Thurber, of "Red Notice" and "We're the Millers" fame, wrote and directed the original film.
Why a sequel all these years later? While it remains to be seen what sort of audience will be there come time for this movie's debut in theaters (or perhaps on Hulu?), the original earned a huge $168 million worldwide against a mere $20 million budget. It's also been in regular rotation on cable pretty much ever since, not to mention Blu-ray/DVD sales. This is to say, the studio made a lot of money with it and 20 years is enough time to build up some nostalgia. There's reason to think there's more money to be made here.
Is anyone else coming back for the sequel?
The big question now is whether or not anyone else from the original "Dodgeball" will be joining Vince Vaughn. For those who may need a refresher, the first film focused on Peter, the proprietor of the Average Joe's gym, trying to get out of debt and save his business by winning a dodgeball tournament. However, his nemesis White Goodman (Ben Stiller) tried to foil those plans by having his super-fit goons from Globo Gym enter the contest as well. Ultimately, Peter and his rag-tag group of pals prevailed and shut down Globo Gym in the process.
The stacked cast also included the likes of Justin Long, Christine Taylor, Stephen Root, Joel David Moore, Alan Tudyk, Missi Pyle, Gary Cole, and Jason Bateman, amongst others, so there would be no shortage of talent to rope into this thing. It would be very difficult to imagine Stiller's Goodman not making an appearance. The only issue might be that most of these actors are far more famous now and might command a much larger paycheck for their participation.
But this is a cinematic journey that has been going on for a long time now that finally has some real steam. For reference, Clay Tarver was hired to write a script for a "Dodgeball" sequel way back in 2013 — it's been that long. Hopefully, Vaughn can talk some of his former co-stars into coming back. Not for nothing, but the 20th anniversary is next year, if they can get the lead out.
"Dodgeball 2" does not currently have a release date but it's early days for this one, so stay tuned.