Will Ferrell has tried his hand at drama multiple times, from Everything Must Go to Stranger Than Fiction. His recent sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues wasn’t supposed to be a drama, but someone at Paramount had a bright idea, and so we get the clip above.
This might be an April Fool’s joke. For this reason, I hate days like today. But Yahoo Movies reports that Paramount will be releasing a No Jokes Cut of Adam McKay’s Anchorman sequel next month. And the above clip is a melodramatic example of what it will look like.
This can’t be real, right? April Fool’s, right?
Says McKay:
"People know that Will [Ferrell] and I do many joke options for our movies, but I think what gets lost is the fact that underneath the laughs there's a very powerful drama at work. I'm just glad, with the no joke cut, audiences can finally appreciate the rawness and drama of Anchorman 2."
He means alternate cuts like this, the film Wake Up Ron Burgundy, a cut created out of deleted scenes from the first move. Here’s a clip:
Producer Judd Apatow adds:
Comedies often fail to get the consideration they deserve because laughter masks the serious storytelling going on beneath the surface. This new cut illustrates that Anchorman 2 can hold its weight against any drama."
This has to be bullshit. Paramount already released an extended, R-rated cut of Anchorman 2. This would be the third version of the film in a short amount of time. Of course, the movie is coming out on DVD today. So this must be a tie-in to that. Or an April Fool’s gag. Either way, it’s kind of funny to see how a temp track of dramatic music can even swing the tone of a goofy sequel like Anchorman 2. It reminds me of that clip of The Big Bang Theory without a laugh track. So uncomfortable.
