By Steve Hopkins
"It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for 'em."
A sequel to the hit 2004 sports comedy
Dodgeball is in early development at 20th Century Studios, according to reports.
The original grossed over $168 million worldwide. It tells the story of Average Joe's Gym owner Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn) who, along with a ragtag group of the gym's members, tries to save the fitness centre from its rival Globo Gym, led by the villainous White Goodman (Ben Stiller). To do this, LaFleur and co decide to compete against Goodman at a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament with a $50,000 prize.
Deadline reports that the sequel will continue the story of gym owner LaFleur, with Vaughn set to return. The script for the follow-up is written by Jordan VanDina (Animaniacs) based on an idea from Vaughn.
Rawson Marshall Thurber wrote and directed the original. However, Deadline reported that it is not clear at this time if he will helm the sequel.
The outlet said it was also unknown what other actors would return and who else would star. Alongside Stiller and Vaughn, the original's cast included Alan Tudyk, Chris Williams, Gary Cole, Jason Bateman, Joel David Moore, Justin Long, Missi Pyle, Stephen Root and William Shatner, as well as the late Rip Torn.
Dodgeball sequel
Long, who played a frequent customer at Average Joe's in the first film, previously told
ComicBook.com that he and Vaughn were trying to bring Stiller around to the idea of a sequel.
“Of course, I would love to do it and I hope that it ends up happening, but I think Ben [Stiller] is a little… what he told me on [my] podcast was that he’s a little trepidatious about doing a sequel to something so beloved, something that people enjoy so much that.”
Long then went on to describe the idea of a sequel as "very risky", explaining: “You don’t wanna s**t on the original, you want something just as good.
“So I think [Stiller] is a little wary of that, of trying to recreate something that was very specific to that time, but I hope he comes around on it.”
Long went on to say: “Vince is a very convincing person, so I’m just hoping Vince can convince him with his idea. It’s a funny idea.”
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