When Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was released in 2004 it became an almost instant cult phenomenon. That summer it was hard to find a regular movie-goer who couldn't quote all of the movie's best lines verbatim, and thanks to the staying power of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's comedy it never got old. But while fans pleaded for a sequel, for years it seemed like an impossible dream. While the movie first film was successful domestically, making $85 million during its run on a miniscule $26 million budget, the humor did not catch on overseas - a market that has become more and more important since the original's release. McKay and Ferrell kept plugging away trying to make it happen, but were forced on multiple occasions to declare the project dead. But after nearly a full decade the seemingly impossible dream is finally becoming reality.
After releasing a few previews that simply teased the reunion between Ron Burgundy, Brian Fantana, Brick Tamland and Champ Kind, as well as a new poster this afternoon, Paramount has finally debuted the first footage from the actual movie in the new theatrical trailer for Anchorman: The Legend Continues. Scripted by Ferrell and McKay, the sequel finds the famed Channel 4 news teaming not only leaving the 70s behind and taking on the new adventure that is the 80s, but also advancing into the world of the 24-hour-news cycle.
The trailer does a good job of introducing the story, has some fun laughs, and delivers some classic Ron Burgundy awkwardness (most notably while sitting down to dinner with a black family), there are some strange things missing. Megan Good, James Marsden and Kristen Wiig are all introduced as new members of the cast, but Christina Applegate's Veronica Corningstone is only there for a second and doesn't get any lines. Also missing is Harrison Ford, who we've heard is playing a fairly significant role. But perhaps they are just saving him for later.
Even if you're not really digging this trailer, there is a silver lining. Those of you who remember the theatrical trailer for the first Anchorman will remember that it contained very little actual footage from the movie, and was instead mostly made up of alternate takes that didn't make the final cut (or just ended up being a part of Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie). Take a refresher course by watching the original preview below and head to the comments to tell us what you think about the Anchorman: The Legend Continues footage!
