Justin Long Says Vince Vaughn’s ‘Dodgeball 2’ Pitch Is Great, but Ben Stiller Needs to Get on Board: ‘It’s a Funny Idea’
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It’s been 18 years since “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” opened in theaters, and the film remains a bonafide classic for a generation of moviegoers who were teenagers in the early 2000s. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, the sports comedy stars Vince Vaughn and a deranged Ben Stiller as rival gym owners who face off in a dodgeball tournament. The supporting cast includes Christine Taylor, Justin Long, Rip Torn, Stephen Root and Alan Tudyck. According to Long, a “Dodgeball” sequel idea has been been ironed out by Vaughn and is just waiting on Stiller’s approval.
“Of course I would love to do it and 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,” Long told ComicBook.com (via IndieWire). “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.”
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Long continued, “Vince is a very convincing person, so I’m just hoping Vince can convince him with his idea. 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.”
The “Dodgeball” cast reunited in 2017 for a charity event, and Long said he saw a spark in Stiller that hints he could come around to wanting to do a second film.
“When we got together years later to do a little mini reunion for this charity and Ben put on the mustache again, I remember him talking about how how happy it made him playing White Goodman again and how much fun that character was,” Long said. “I do know that Vince has a great idea for it and it’s just a matter of getting Ben on board.”
Stiller might be apprehensive about taking on “Dodgeball 2” after he struck out hard with “Zoolander 2.” The “Zoolander” sequel was released in theaters 15 years after the beloved original and bombed at the box office with $56 million worldwide, barely making back its budget of over $50 million. The movie was also eviscerated by critics. Stiller admitted to Esquire earlier this year that watching the film bomb around the world was “not a great experience.”
Long most recently starred in the horror hit “Barbarian,” which is now streaming on HBO Max.
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