[dropcap=small]A[/dropcap]lmost 14 years ago, Derek Zoolander and Hansel McDonald strutted their stuff on the catwalk, and it was beginning to look as if we’d never see them do it again. It’s been proving tough over the last few years for Ben Stiller to be able to fully convince Paramount that a sequel to Zoolander is a good idea. Ultimately the studio caved and greenlit the project despite the first film’s low box office yields, likely due to the help of its high DVD sales and rentals. A screenplay has been written, most of the original cast including Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell are set to return, and with last year’s addition of Penelope Cruz to the cast, an actual shooting date looked closer than ever.
As of today, the Mayor of Rome took to his Facebook to announce that Zoolander 2 will shoot in and around the city’s famous Cinecittà studios for 12 weeks this coming spring.
So there you have it, it’s Facebook official! It doesn’t get much more official than that! Also, this news lines up perfectly with what Ben Stiller revealed about three years ago to the Cannes Film Festival crowd when he had mentioned that the new adventures of Derek and Hansel would take them to Europe. He had also hinted that the city of Rome would be playing a major part in the film.
As exciting as this news is for Zoolander fans, not much else about the film is currently known. We do know that this time around, Ben Stiller will be directing instead of Justin Theroux, though he did help Stiller pen the screenplay. Given the spring shooting date, it’s safe to assume that we won’t be seeing the finished product until early 2016 at the soonest.
Are you excited about Zoolander 2? How do you think “The Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too” has been doing? Has Zoolander come up with any new looks? Who do you think should play his son? Let us know what you’re thinking in the comments below!
