Penelope Cruz Signs Up For ZOOLANDER 2

A sequel to Ben Stiller’s 2001 male model comedy Zoolander appears to be a bit closer to reality with the news that Penelope Cruz is signing on to costar in the long in development project. Stiller, of course, will be reprising his role of the super famous, super dimwitted super model Derek Zoolander with the first film’s co-stars Will Ferrell and Owen Wilson rumored to be returning as well. The film will also mark Stiller’s return to the director’s chair following 2013’s The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, with Justin Theroux providing the screenplay.

It has been thirteen years since the first Zoolander was a mild hit for Stiller, though its reputation has grown since then. Stiller has been working for the last several years at getting a sequel off the ground, and I dare say that the recent success of the sequel Dumb And Dumber To, twenty years after the first film’s release, may have emboldened the studio in moving forward now. Granted, there is not an actual announcement that the film has been greenlighted, but it is a demonstrable move in that direction.

Personally, though, I am of two minds on wanting to see a Zoolander sequel. I really enjoyed the original when it came out. Stiller is at his best when he is playing larger than life comic characters like Derek Zoolander or Dodgeball‘s White Goodman or Tropic Thunder‘s Tugg Speedman. But I am also a fan of Ferrell’s Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Jeremy and anxiously wanted a sequel. That is until, I got it and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues failed to live up to the expectations I had. Can Stiller deliver a sequel at the same level of the original film?

Via Deadline