Vince Vaughn finally found another underdog story to tell. The long-awaited sequel to the 2004 hit Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is officially in the works. Vaughn has talked about making a sequel to the sports comedy for years, most recently providing a positive update in December 2022.
Jordan VanDina (The Binge) wrote the script for Dodgeball 2, which is in very early development, reports Deadline. It’s unclear if Rawson Marshall Thurber will be involved in the project for 20th Century Studios. Thurber, who went on to direct We’re the Millers, Central Intelligence, and Red Notice, wrote and directed the original Dodgeball. Vaughn is also the only star attached at this point.
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Dodgeball told the story of Pete LaFleur (Vaughn) and a group of misfits who team up to win a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament in the hopes of saving Pete’s local gym business from being swallowed up by a corporate chain owned by White Goodman. Ben Stiller, who co-produced Dodgeball with Stuwart Cornfield, played the villain. The sequel will see Vaughn reprise his role. VanDina’s script is based on an original idea by Vaugn.
The original Dodgeball had a dizzying collection of stars in the cast. Christine Taylor, Justin Long, Stephen Root, Alan Tudyk, Missi Pyle, Gary Cole, Jason Bateman, and even William Shatner all had roles in the film. The late Rip Torn played the coach for Pete’s team. It cost 20th Century Fox just $20 million to make and grossed $168.4 million worldwide.
In October 2022, Long told ComicBook.com Vaughn had an idea for a sequel, but Stiller needed to give his stamp of approval before the movie could be made. However, Stiller told Long he was “a little trepidatious” about making a sequel to such a beloved movie. Still has also focused on directing as of late, with serious TV projects like Escape at Dannemora and Severance.
“It’s very risky, you don’t wanna s— on the original, you want something just as good,” Long told ComicBook.com. “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. 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.”
Vaughn also told The Hollywood Reporter in December that Stiller had to be involved in a Dodgeball 2. “They’ve always talked about these things forever and I had an idea that was fun and the studio likes it, so we’ll see where it goes,” he said. “I think Ben is open to doing it, I think he’s in the same boat as me actually which is if it’s a really fun and great idea then that’s fun, but if it’s just something to go do it again then why?”
