Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story followed a group of misfits as they entered a dodgeball tournament in hopes of winning $50,000 to save their gym from being taken over by a health fitness corporation. While the premise was somewhat generic, the movie went on to become a commercial and critical success.
Two decades and multiple Vince Vaughn comebacks later, 20th Century Studios announced it’s restarting the development of a sequel to Dodgeball.
According to the report from Deadline, Vince Vaugh is returning for the sequel, which is currently in the early stages of its development. Rawson Marshall Thurber was the director and co-writer of the original Dodgeball movie, but it isn’t clear if he’ll be coming back for the sequel.
There’s also uncertainty about the return of the ensemble cast including Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Justin Long, Stephen Root, Alan Tidy, Jason Bateman, and Gary Cole. Stiller co-wrote the movie with Thurber.
The first Dodgeball movie grossed $168 million at the global box office against a minuscule budget of just $20 million. The film also received a score of 71% from Rotten Tomatoes.
There is little information on the plot of the movie. However, the sequel will reportedly continue the story of Pete LaFluer (Vaughn) after the events of the first movie.
According to reports the screenplay for Dodgeball 2 will be written by Jordan VanDina. The screenwriter is best known for writing the screenplay for Binge and Animaniacs. The script is reportedly very early in development.
Thurber previously address the possibility of continuing Dodgeball via a film or TV series.
“You know what — never say never. I never thought about Dodgeball as a series, but that actually might be fun,” Thurber said. “I’m really proud of Dodgeball — it’s my first film and something people still really like it seems. I would say never say never, and it would have to be the right take on it. But yeah, maybe.”
20th Century Fox tried to make a sequel in 2013 with both Vaughn and Stiller returning as LaFluer and Goodman. However, the movie didn’t make it past the planning stage.
Dodgeball 2 doesn’t have a release date.
