Vince Vaughn Is Plotting A Dodgeball Sequel According To Justin Long
"Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," starring Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, and Justin Long, is still a beloved comedy film. The movie helped launch Long's career and created iconic characters for long-time funnymen Vaughn and Stiller. In a story as old as time, Vaughn plays underdog Peter LaFleur as he and his bevy of kooky sidekicks, including Long's Justin Redman, try to save their gym, Average Joe's. The group enters a dodgeball tournament in hopes that their gym doesn't get bought out by their rival gym owner, the evil White Goodman (Ben Stiller).
The classic comedy, which was written and directed by "Red Notice" director Rawson Marshall Thurber, was also produced by Stiller. Fans have cried out for a sequel to be made, and there may be moves being made recently to get that very sequel to happen. In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter noted that a new "Dodgeball" film was in the works from "Silicon Valley" co-showrunner Clay Tarver. However, Stiller told Metro in 2016 that this wasn't happening. Now, talks of a sequel are popping up again.
Justin Long loves Vince Vaughn's idea for a Dodgeball sequel
Justin Long revealed that Vince Vaughn has a great pitch for "Dodgeball 2" and now it's just a matter of getting Ben Stiller to sign off on it. When speaking with Comic Book about the release of his latest film, "Barbarian," Long mentioned that he just worked on a Christmas movie with Vince Vaughn and he pitched him a sequel to "Dodgeball" while they were working together; this topic was covered when he had Stiller on his "Life is Short" podcast and mentioned the potential project. "I felt like I should facilitate the pitch," Long commented.
Long said that he hopes the movie ends up getting made and that he would love to be a part of it. "Of course, I would love to do it and I hope that it ends up happening, but I think Ben 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," he revealed. Long went on to say that he's hopeful Stiller will come around to making a new "Dodgeball" sequel despite his concerns about trying to recreate the magic of the original film. "Vince is a very convincing person, so I'm just hoping Vince can convince him with his idea," the actor added. "It's a funny idea, I don't wanna say what it is."
It's just a matter of convincing Ben Stiller to do a Dodgeball sequel for it to happen
In that same interview, Justin Long stressed repeatedly that he wishes Ben Stiller would give the planned sequel the thumbs-up. "I remember how much fun he had playing it. He was always laughing," he said. "It's just a matter of getting Ben on board."
Stiller, who isn't acting much these days, set up a charity video in 2017 in which he, Vince Vaughn, and some of the other cast members stepped back into their roles for a fundraising effort. Through donating to the Stiller Foundation, fans had the chance to play dodgeball on one of the two teams from the movie and win a slew of other prizes.
Stiller told Entertainment Weekly (via Sports Illustrated) that he loved revisiting the character again for that video. "It was really strange and fun," he said. "I didn't know what it would be like, because I was away from it for so long and I never really thought there would be any reason to do the character again, but then ... this opportunity came up." WIth those comments in mind, it might not take much convincing after all to get Stiller to inhabit White Goodman once again.