The Hollywood Reporter‘s “Heat Vision Blog” has new info about a sequel to the 1983 comedy classic National Lampoon’s Vacation being developed with David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) attached to produce and direct the film.
The original road comedy starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo introduced the world to the Griswold family as they took a grueling cross-country road trip that led to all sorts of hilarious mishaps along the way. The original movie grossed $61 million theatrically, leading to a number of thematic sequels including National Lampoon’s European Vacation in 1985, Christmas Vacation in 1989 and Vegas Vacation in 1997.
The idea for this sequel, almost a reboot of sorts, is that it would catch up with the now grown-up son of Chase’s Clark Griswold, Rusty, originally played by Anthony Michael Hall, as he takes his own family on a similar road trip as the one he took as a young teenager. Even though the new movie will reference the original, there are no guarantees any of the cast from the original movies might return–the college humor magazine “National Lampoon” will no longer be involved–but it’s thought that Chase and D’Angelo could make appearances as the grandparents, although neither is signed.
Apparently New Line exec Sam Brown, a big fan of the original “Vacation” movies, was sifting through the Warner Bros. library looking for available titles and rights and brought the idea to New Line president Toby Emmerich and President of Production Richard Brenner, who convinced the Warner Bros. bigwigs to allow them to develop the franchise.
In the coming week, they’ll be meeting with writers to develop the initial idea into a full screenplay.
You can read the entire story over at the Heat Vision Blog.
