Adam McKay Says ‘Anchorman 3’ Will Not Happen

Hopefully he won’t immediately regret this decision, but Adam McKay – co-writer and director of Anchorman and its super-sized sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – says he and co-writer/star Will Ferrell will not be expanding their beloved comedy franchise into a trilogy. 

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“It’s done,” says McKay in a new interview with Empire. “I think that’s it. It was great to do it, and it was so fun to work with those guys again, but I think that’s it for Ron Burgundy.”

Of course, that’s not completely it for Burgundy and his endlessly quotable news team: A new, filthier version of Anchorman 2 (featuring hundreds of alternate takes and brand-new jokes) that McKay calls “the unfurled version of the movie” is hitting theaters on Friday, February 28th, for a one-week run. But oustide of that bizarre release, McKay is completely burned out on the sequel format.

“No, that’s the last sequel we’re gonna do,” adds McKay. “There’s nothing more fun to me than new characters and a new world. And now we’re releasing this alt version, we’re totally satisfied. No Anchorman 3.”

McKay is, however, excited about two new projects: a remake of the 1974 comedy Uptown Saturday Night (starring Will Smith and co-written by collaborator Nick Stoller) and an adaptation of the Michael Lewis book The Big Short, which focuses on a surprisingly unfunny topic: the crushing financial crisis of 2008. 

In the meantime, however, McKay is excited about the ridiculous new Anchorman 2 cut, which he warns is for diehards only. “[The studio] called me up about a month ago and said, ‘We’re going to put this out in theatres,” he says. “My first response was, ‘Are you sure?’ My second response was, ‘Fucking A! Let’s put it out!'”