Holy crap, there's another Hot Tub Time Machine. Above is the red band trailer (COVER YOUR EYES, CHILDREN) for Hot Tub Time Machine 2 , which gets festive for audiences this Christmas. The weirdest element of this trailer? Continuity! This looks like it picks up directly after the first film where (SPOILER ALERT FOR HOT TUB TIME MACHINE) Nick (Craig Robinson) and Lou (Rob Corddry) exploited time travel to become rich.
Because this is a dopey sequel, John Cusack and Lizzy Caplan are nowhere to be found – one could argue that Cusack was sort of slumming it with the first film, though Hot Tub Time Machine, in many ways, has more integrity than this year's The Bag Man . His High Fidelity collaborator Steve Pink had no qualms about returning from the first film to direct the sequel, however, which is again written by Josh Heald. Really, Cusack and Caplan are the only ones that didn't come back this time: even Chevy Chase returned, and everybody hates Chevy Chase!
Weirdly enough, this one looks like a whodunit, with Lou getting shot in the present day, and the gang getting into the Hot Tub Time Machine© to end up in the future. Clark Duke is also back as Jacob, and the trailer throws us a curveball by suddenly, conspicuously sliding Adam Scott in there as if we wouldn't notice Leslie Knope's main squeeze. Also in this sequel are Gillian Jacobs, Collette Wolfe and Thomas Lennon. Sadly not returning is Crispin Glover, who brings just a little bit of magic to every small role he plays.
That first Hot Tub Time Machine trailer, as seen below, really sort of glided on the gift that was the dumber-than-dumb title and a joke of a premise. It's pretty much exactly what you'd expect, down to Craig Robinson's truly Hall of Fame-level reciting of the unbeatable title. Amusingly, the sequel's trailer seems to assume you've seen that first film a dozen times by now, and you remember all the gags and stunts as if it were yesterday. Actually, if you watch this trailer and haven't seen the film, you're bound to be lost. Why is it weird that Lou is wealthy? Why is it funny that Nick Is a musician? And how exactly did he find fame singing the hits of tomorrow and releasing them yesterday? Hopefully, the movie has some fun with Nick rewriting the entire history of pop music. The best joke, however, is probably the crack about only nerds watching Fringe, which went from cult hit into punchline after only a couple of years off the air. Mean, but hilarious.
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 opens Christmas Day. You probably aren't doing anything, so go check it out.
