Fans of the Will Ferrell comedy Anchorman had every reason to have high hopes that a sequel to the comedy classic was on the way. Director Adam McKay was talking about the project non-stop and all of the original stars seemed to be climbing on board one by one.

So brace yourself for the bad news: Anchorman 2 ain’t gonna happen.

So says McKay via Twitter. The director posted the news on Thursday, writing, “So bummed. Paramount basically passed on Anchorman 2. Even after we cut our budget down. We tried.”

The original Anchorman, which starred Ferrell along with Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate and Steve Carell was a satirical look at TV news set in the black hole of fashion known as the 1970s. Released in 2004, the film grossed $90 million at the box office and has developed something of a cult following ever since.

Speculation had been rife the past few months that McKay and crew were excited about getting back together, but even after the cast agreed to big salary cuts to encourage executives, the studio apparently still decided not to pick up the project.

Stay classy Paramount.

(Photo by PR Photos)

Story provided by the Dish Information Corporation