To recap, on top of returning principles Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate, David Koecher and Steve Carell, the Anchorman sequel will also feature Harrison Ford as a “legendary newscaster,” Kristen Wiig as a rumored love interest for Brick Tamland, Terence Stamp as a Rupert Murdoch-type figure, and Greg Kinnear and Josh Lawson in unknown roles.
Now The Hollywood Reporter brings news that Nicole Kidman will also be featured in a “secret” uncredited role for Anchorman: The Legend Continues, and there are rumors that Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson have also filmed very brief performances at the Atlanta set. The nature of cameos being what they are, with stars able to slip a day or two of shooting inconspicuously into their schedules, it’s quite possible that a number of other big-name actors have also filmed scenes in secret. It’s doubtful we’ll find out the full cameo list until the film hits theaters.
Kidman is best known for serious drama roles and her last appearance was in Park Chan-Wook’s dark thriller Stoker, but she also dipped into the comedy genre a couple of years ago with Adam Sandler’s rom-com Just Go With It.
Though their involvement hasn’t yet been confirmed, both Wilson and Vaughn seem to be likely candidates for cameos, since it makes sense that they would reprise their roles as news anchors Frank Vitchard and Wes Mantooth, respectively. At this point it’s unclear whether the other news team leaders – Ben Stiller and Tim Robbins – will also make another appearance, or whether Anchorman: The Legend Continues will feature another legendary news anchor bloodbath like the one in the first film.
Paul Rudd, incidentally, decided to forgo showing a clip from Anchorman: The Legend Continues during his appearance on Conan O’Brien earlier this week, in favor of continuing his grand tradition of “Macrolling” the talk show host. For those who aren’t regular viewers, Rudd has a running bait-and-switch gag in his Conan appearances where he will show a clip of a kid in a wheelchair rolling down a hill, from the 1988 film Mac and Me, instead of showing a clip from the movie he is supposed to be promoting.
This sadly means that there isn’t any footage from Anchorman: The Legend Continues out in the wild yet, so we have little more to go on apart from the hints given by the Channel 4 news team in the teaser trailers that were released almost a year ago. Only time will tell whether the sequel will bring the “machine-guns and boobies” promised by Champ Kind or whether it will be, as Brick Tamland says, a movie where they all play witches.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for witches. How about you?
Anchorman: The Legend Continues is out in theaters on December 20th, 2013.