Upcoming movies don’t go away, they stick around to be teased endlessly whenever someone wants you to pay attention. Last week Zoolander 2 shuffled off toward development hell when Paramount turned down funding the project, leaving the sequel’s future looking pretty grim. Unless of course you’re writer Justin Theroux who says he doesn’t know what everyone’s talking about. He’s still writing.

Theroux tells Movieline, “I have not gotten word from anyone to put pencils down, so I am continuing as though we are proceeding with that film.” Actually what’s more surprising than that they’re still working on the movie is that they hadn’t finished the script. Rumor had been that Zoolander 2 was so far along that they were already working on casting Jonah Hill as the movie’s villain before their funding fell through, but if they still don’t have a first draft of the screenplay… maybe even that was premature?

It’s not so surprising that Theroux hasn’t gotten the Zoolander 2 is dead memo. Sure Paramount turned them down but rumor has it there’s a chance they may slash the budget and find money somewhere else. As long as he’s already working, it makes sense to let Theroux keep scribbling in his legal pad and then hang onto his finished draft for a day when Zoolander 2 funding starts flowing. In the meantime, the rumors, substantive or not, will keep right on flowing. Anyone else feel like they’re taking crazy pills?