Anchorman 3: The Future of Ron Burgundy

credit: Dreamworks

Will Ferrell has been one of the favorite comedic actors of Americans for quite some time now, with roles beginning in 1991. The actor eventually made his way to “Saturday Night Live,” where the rest of his career would fall into place. Following “Saturday Night Live,” Will Ferrell played a wide range of characters that included impersonations, original characters, and characters from SNL that went on to lead in full-length movies. Although Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy character wasn’t one of his several created for SNL that went on to lead a movie, the character was created alongside longtime partner Adam McKay, creator of “Step Brothers,” and used for a movie that the pair had been working on out the details of for quite some time. However, as with any popular character or film, fans want the character to be reprised yet again, so with technically three Ron Burgundy or Anchorman films already created, that may not be enough as fans are curious about a true Anchorman 3. Below, we’ve detailed Will Ferrell and the various Anchorman projects, but most importantly, the possibility of an Anchorman 3.

credit: Dreamworks

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

The original Anchorman film, “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” was released in 2004 and featured practically every single actor that fans of Will Ferrell could have been hoping to have appeared in the film. Alongside Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate, and many others appeared as part of the main cast. The sequel only increased its cast, but before “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” was “Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie,” a strange but exciting, outtakes-forward film even less severe than the original and was filled with loose plotlines. However, “Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie” was like Anchorman’s version of “Lion King 1.5.” Overall, “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” followed a news crew at a San Diego news station in the 1970s as they came to terms with the changes coming to their station. Typically, Will Ferrell movies haven’t gotten a sequel, but “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” was released, and Anchorman 3 has been rumored by those behind the film on and off since the second film was released in 2013.

credit: Dreamworks

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” did everything right about a comedic sequel. While the original Anchorman may have seemed grounded, although outrageous, the second film was the furthest thing from grounded. Built upon the outrageousness of “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” was a combination of various genres, from action to comedy, with a damn-near 30-person free-for-all starting in the streets between various forms of news teams and others. Overall, “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” did more to ensure that the series could release a new entry every ten years until the actors were physically unable to do it anymore. From Ferrell to McKay and even Steve Carell, the possibility of a third Anchorman film has been a topic of discussion on and off. Part of the charm of “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” was going into the film knowing how outrageous the previous one was, and even more so with the sequel being released nine years after the original, “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.”

credit: Dreamworks

Anchorman 3: The Future of Ron Burgundy

Beyond the two and a half Anchorman movies that have been released in theaters and direct-to-video, Anchorman has most recently, from 2019 to 2021, with the fifth season underway, hosted a podcast called “The Ron Burgundy Podcast” has aired. As “The Ron Burgundy Podcast” has been the most recent and constant incarnation of Ron Burgundy, it’s been likely since its first episode that Ron Burgundy could return in movie form in Anchorman 3. As well as “The Ron Burgundy Podcast,” Will Ferrell made several other media appearances as the character. Will Ferrell appeared as Ron Burgundy at the 2015 Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber, toured several late-night talk shows as the character, and was a live broadcaster for an NHL game that featured the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings. Considering Will Ferrell’s heavy use in his Ron Burgundy character, even recently, you’d think the likeliness of Anchorman 3 would be higher. It’s almost like Will Ferrell has been promoting the movies all this time, but with a film loaded with such comedy as the Anchorman movies have done, it’s hard to force a third movie out. However, after the apparent fallout of the longtime partners, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, we may never get a sequel to any film they have released as a collaboration due to their breakup.