When it was announced two days ago that Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg would be starring together in a comedy called Turkey Bowl, the big story was that the film would unite the two actors again after the massively successful The Other Guys from last summer. As it turns out, the film won't only be a reunion for Wahlberg and Ferrell but for one of Marky Mark's Departed co-stars as well.
Following the announcement regarding Turkey Bowl - which may be changing its title to Three Mississippi due to the independent film by Kyle Smith - EW sat down with the project's producer, The Other Guys director Adam McKay, who revealed that in addition to Wahlberg and Ferrell the film will also star Alec Baldwin as Wahlberg's father. Confirming the idea that the project will be cameo heavy, the director said that they're looking for "15 people that [they] love" to take bit parts in the film. Some names dropped by McKay included Rob Riggle, who would play Wahlberg's gay cousin, and Jeremy Renner, who they want to play an ex-convict. During the interview McKay actually laid out the entire plot which you can read below:
"It’s about these two rival families from — we’re thinking Philadelphia but we need to check in with Wahlberg and Ferrell and see what kind of accents they want to do. Alec Baldwin is the patriarch of one of the families, and Wahlberg is his son. He saw the Kennedys playing football on their front lawn at Thanksgiving, and boom, that’s it: “Anything the Kennedys do, we’re doing.” His family starts playing the other family that lives across the park from them. Over the years, Baldwin’s family hasn’t done too well — they own a crappy little bar in town — while the other family, which Will’s character eventually becomes the patriarch of, becomes really successful. The game gets nastier and nastier as the years go on, and Ferrell’s family starts just destroying the other family. After a massive heart attack, Baldwin’s character’s dying wish is that his estranged son, Mark, take over the game and finally win one. So Wahlberg has to put this ramshackle, convict, gambling-addict family back together again and beat the richies. The whole spirit of it is that it’s just a giant, fun ensemble comedy. We want to populate it with people we love. There’s a funny subplot with Rob Riggle where he’s a gay cousin that Wahlberg’s family sort of turned their backs on but he played football at Fresno State and they need him. We’re going to try to get Jeremy Renner to play an ex-con. The idea is to bring in, like, 15 people that we love in and just do a big, funny holiday movie."
For those curious, McKay says that he isn't attached to direct the film, but that he "reserve that right." I will admit that I actually really like this idea, and if they are able to get the cast that they desire - Renner may be a bit too busy, for example - it could be truly fantastic.
