‘Anchorman 2’ to get R-rated theatrical rerelease, 763 new jokes

So much for staying classy: “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,� Will Ferrell’s broad comedy about broadcast news, is getting a raunchy, R-rated theatrical rerelease for one week, beginning Feb. 28.

Officially billed as “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues: Super-Sized R-Rated Version,� the new edit adds approximately 20 minutes to the original PG-13 film’s two-hour running time and promises -- no doubt ironically -- 763 new jokes, which works out to an average of one every 11 seconds or so.

“Anchorman 2� has already proven a box-office success for Paramount Pictures, grossing about $125 million in domestic ticket sales since opening in December. Both versions of the film will go on sale for home video April 1.

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According to its makers, the idea for the new version came from the improvisational style of the “Anchorman� films, which tell the story of thick-skulled blowhard newsman Ron Burgundy, played by Ferrell, and his equally clueless cohorts, played by Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Steve Carell. There’s a lot of riffing and ad-libbing on set, which yielded the new version. “Anchorman 2� director Adam McKay, who also cowrote the movie with Ferrell, told the New York Times that the filmmakers originally planned to do a conventional extended version for home video until it became something bigger.

“We started talking and realized, we can replace every single joke in the movie with another joke,� McKay said. Paramount executives pushed for the theatrical release, he added.

The extent of the overhaul for the new version of “Anchorman 2� recalls another of Paramount’s comedy franchises, the “Jackass� movies, which expanded upon “Jackass 2� with “Jackass 2.5� and “Jackass 3� with “Jackass 3.5.� Those new versions, however, were only released on home video, making the super-sized “Anchor Man 2� a rare bird.

A trailer for “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues: Super-Sized R-Rated Version� is posted online.

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