Anchorman is quite possibly the most outrageous mainstream comedy (and romantic comedy) of the early 2000s, but it’s nothing compared to the original version Will Ferrell and Adam McKay wanted. The first version of the script involved a plane crash and killer baboons, but a chance encounter with an A-list director helped convince the pair to reconsider and create something “more conventional” at least in comparison to the insane idea they started with.
Ferrell has been promoting his new Netflix show The Hawk, and as part of that, he stopped by the Happy Sad Confused podcast. During the convo, the OG Anchorman script came up, and the comedian revealed that Oscar-winning director Paul Thomas Anderson actually played a role in the changes. He was apparently guest writing for SNL at the time, and he told Ferrell and McKay that if they were working on anything, he’d love to be involved as a producer. Really excited, they gave him the script for Anchorman, and his enthusiasm quickly died. Here’s a portion of the story…
He’d always been a huge SNL fan. He loved our cast. He said to Adam and I, ‘You guys, do you have any scripts? What if I produce something for you guys? I could be your 800 pound gorilla in the room, and you could write anything you want.’ We’re like, ‘Well, we do have something.’ Even Paul was like, ‘Huh. I like it? Question mark. It was even too much for Paul. So then we were like, ‘Maybe it should be a little more conventional.’
Anderson, of course, has been romantically involved with Ferrell’s SNL co-star Maya Rudolph since the early 2000s. He’s also directed some of the most acclaimed movies in recent memory. His latest, One Battle After Another, won Best Picture and was a major force at the Oscars, and many of his other classics like Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood are widely considered to be among the best movies of the past several decades. He isn’t exactly a director who always gravitates to the conventional either; so, when he so clearly wanted no part of the movie, it’s not a surprise they reconsidered and changed course.
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The original Anchorman involved Ron Burgundy and the gang attending a nationwide news convention. On the way back, he volunteered to fly the plane and got into an accident with another plane filled with baboons and throwing stars. The rest of the movie was apparently a lot of Veronica offering good advice about climbing down the mountain and Ron and the other anchors telling her they needed to seek higher ground, while trying not to get killed by the baboons.
To be clear, this all sounds absolutely hilarious and also, like a disorganized mess. It sounds really complicated to shoot too, as it would involve exotic locations and lots of animals, which can be dangerous and/ or very expensive. I’m not surprised Anderson didn’t want any part of it. Ferrell and McKay clearly made the right move by simplifying the plot into something more shootable, but I’m glad they still kept the utter absurdity and some element of the chaos. Anchorman works so well precisely because it’s so outrageous and unlike anything else.
You can check out The Hawk on Netflix right now, or you stream Anchorman which is on Paramount+ and wonder about what could have been.