After almost a decade of threatening—seriously, the first stories about this thing appeared in the trades back in April of 2013—and some more recent, and louder, rumblings from star Vince Vaughn, it sounds like the sequel to 2004’s Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is finally underway.
This is per Variety, which reports that Disney-owned 20th Century Fox has put the sequel, with Vaughn attached to star, into “early development,” along with plans to tap Animaniacs revival writer Jordan VanDina to write the script, from an idea from Vaughn. Notably absent from this round-up of talent: Everybody else from Dodgeball, including director Rawson Marshall Thurber—who’s since become one of Dwayne Johnson’s pet directors, having helmed both Skyscraper and Red Notice—or the first film’s villain/co-star, Ben Stiller.
In the past, Vaughn (who seems to be the most invested in this whole thing) has said that Stiller was “open” to a return to the world of dives, dodges, and the other three—although Vaughn also noted that all involved are wary of getting bitten by the diminishing returns that can come from double-dipping on a well-loved comedy.
Vaughn has not revealed what his initial “great idea” for a sequel would be; we can only hope that it somehow involves Lance Armstrong returning for a second climactic pep talk to remind us all of what’s possible through hard work, determination, and nothing else. And we’ll grant this: Dodgeball has had a shockingly long tail for a comedy film of its vintage, including the fact that ESPN still occasionally busts out a version of the movie’s “The Ocho” gag when it feels like featuring some lesser-known sports. (Fingers crossed that Gary Cole and Jason Bateman are available for this sequel, at least.)
