Original script for Will Ferrell hit ‘Anchorman’ had orangutans and cannibalism
nypost.com“Kind of a Big Deal: How Anchorman Stayed Classy And Became The Most Iconic Comedy of the Twenty-First Century” (Dutton),” that script, then titled “Action News Man,” was still a very funny take on a shopworn premise.“Ron convinces the pilot he knows how to fly the charter jet, and he immediately crash lands it in the mountains,” Ferrell once explained of Anchorman’s iconic main character, Ron Burgundy. “They clipped a cargo plane . . .
and it was carrying only boxes of orangutans and Chinese throwing stars. Throughout the movie we’re being stalked by orangutans killing, one by one, the team off with throwing stars, [with] Veronica Corningstone saying things like, ‘Guys, I know if we just head down, we’ll hit civilization.’ ”“Anchorman” was created by Ferrell and director Adam McKay, a former SNL head writer and Ferrell’s writing partner on the show.
Together, they created classic sketches like “Celebrity Jeopardy.”Their first film script, written while both were still at the show, was “August Blowout.” Ferrell was set to play Jeff Tanner, a master 1970s car salesman who directly addresses the viewer while standing on his car hood in a Southern California traffic jam, describing himself as “rugged, sexy, and American,” and “fully tricked out with all the features.”“I come with a confident handshake, an outstanding ass, a saddle in my bedroom, and except for some screwup by JCPenney, a near spotless credit report,” Jeff says to the camera. “And guess what?
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