To my knowledge, the first time I reported on the possibility of a sequel to Zoolander was in May of 2009 when Ben Stiller appeared on “Friday Night with Jonathan Ross” and announced the film saying it would follow Stiller’s character, Derek Zoolander, as he gets hired to be a personal model for an Arab Sheikh, which is when he finds out models are being turned into oil.
In a second interview (right) with Screenrush around the same time Stiller said it would most likely be set around ten years after the first film, Derek’s son would now be around ten years old and Derek would be dealing with the fact he is no longer a male model. This is a scenario that could work into the plotline described above.
Now, a report from Deadline confirms the film has some legs as Iron Man 2 and Tropic Thunder scribe Justin Theroux has been brought in to write the script, but no story details are discussed.
Instead, what is known is Theroux is heading to Fashion Week in Paris to “immerse himself on what is current in fashion” and the hope is to get Owen Wilson back to co-star and for Jonah Hill to play the villain. Is this villain going to be the Arab sheik we already heard about or has that story been scrapped?
Deadline reports Paramount is hoping to keep the budget around $50 million with the actors taking cuts with the promise of increased back-end deals. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
