Dodgeball may have come out almost 20 years ago, but Vince Vaughn is still hopeful they can make a sequel, says his former co-star Justin Long. In fact, Vaughn is so keen to get a follow-up off the ground, he's come up with "a great idea" for one – the only trouble is, he can't convince Ben Stiller to be a part of it.
While promoting new horror movie Barbarian, Long touched on the sports comedy hit in an interview with ComicBook.com and how he "would love" to reprise the character of hapless gym member Justin Redman. He also admitted that Stiller is hesitant about developing a second movie due to the negative reception Zoolander 2 received back in 2016.
"I hope that it ends up happening, but I think Ben [Stiller] is a little…what he told me on that podcast was that he's a little trepidatious about doing a sequel to something so beloved, something that people enjoy so much that," Long explained. "It's very risky, you don't wanna shit on the original, you want something just as good. So I think he's a little wary of that, of trying to recreate something that was very specific to that time, but I hope he comes around on it."
"Vince is a very convincing person, so I'm just hoping Vince can convince him with his idea," he continued. "It's a funny idea, I don't wanna say what it is. I know Ben loves Dodgeball and loves that character. I remember how much fun he had playing it. He was always laughing."
Released in 2004, Dodgeball was written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, and follows a bunch of misfits who enter a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament in the hopes of winning the cash prize and saving their beloved local gym from being bought up by a corporate health fitness chain.
While Dodgeball 2 is merely a pipeline dream for Vaughn and Long at this point, there is lots to look forward in terms of big screen entertainment. Check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming movies coming out across the rest of 2022 and beyond to see what's in store.
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I am an Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.