Peter LaFleur is set for a comeback
Vince Vaughn is set to star in a sequel to his hit 2004 comedy Dodgeball, which reports suggest is underway.
Deadline reported that the movie, where Vaughn plays gym owner Pete LaFleur, is in early development at 20th Century Studios and has been scripted by Jordan VanDina.
Rawson Marshall Thurber wrote and directed the original, but Deadline reported that it wasn’t clear if he would direct the sequel.
The outlet said it was also unknown what other actors would return and who else would star. The original, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story included Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Justin Long, Stephen Root, Alan Tudyk, Joel David Moore, Chris Williams, Missi Pyle, Gary Cole, Jason Bateman and William Shatner, as well as the late Rip Torn.
The comedy grossed over $168m worldwide and told the story of LaFleur and a group of misfits from Average Joe’s Gym, taking on White Goodman (Stiller’s) team. The two faced off at a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament with a $50,000 prize on the line. LaFleur had to beat Goodman to save his beloved gym from Goodman’s corporate health fitness chain, Globo Gym.
Deadline said the only plot details that are known about the sequel is that it will continue the story of Vaughn’s prize-winning gym owner. Serving as the basis for VanDina’a script is an idea from Vaughn.
Thurber previously addressed the possibility of expanding the world of Dodgeball, either via new films or TV series, in a 2021 interview with Deadline. “You know what — never say never. I never thought about Dodgeball as a series, but that actually might be fun,” he said.
Justin Long, who played a weedy character by the same name in the original, previously told ComicBook.com that Vaughn was spearheading a campaign to bring Stiller around to the idea of a sequel.
He said: “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 that.” Long went on to describe the idea of a sequel as ‘very risky’.
“You don’t wanna s**t on the original, you want something just as good.” he continued.
“So I think [Stiller] is 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.”
Long went on to say: “Vince is a very convincing person, so I’m just hoping Vince can convince him with his idea. It’s a funny idea.”
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