First the bad news: Anchorman 2, the follow-up to Will Ferrell’s 2004 hit about self-absorbed news anchor Ron Burgundy, is not getting made.

Now the worse news: The sequel, if it had happened, was going to be a musical that opened first on Broadway before traveling via Hollywood to the silver screen.

Adam McKay, the director of the original and the man who tried (and failed) to get the sequel off the ground, has confirmed to CHUD.com that wild and crazy plans were in the works for a singing and dancing follow-up to the comedy smash.

“It was a musical,” he says “We were going to do four months on Broadway and then jump right into filming.”

The director says that Paramount uses advanced “computer modeling” to determine (i.e. guess) future profits on its movies and determined that an Anchorman 2 wasn’t likely to recoup the $60 million it would cost to make.

So the project is dead and will never be, though McKay doesn’t seem too upset. “There’s no hard feelings,” he says. “We have some cool projects set up at Paramount.”

Even so, the very idea of Anchorman stars Ferrell, Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd and Christina Applegate sharing a Broadway stage is enough to set the hearts of comedy fans fluttering. It could still happen. Right? RIGHT???

Not likely. “We’ve moved on,” says McKay. “We tried. But it’s too hard on the actors. And there’s no money for them.”

Maybe they will at least release a single called Stay Classy San Diego. It’ll be a hit.

(Photo by PR Photos)

Story provided by the Dish Information Corporation

There was a time when Hollywood movie musicals ruled the box office and you were more likely to find stars singing and dancing than beating up super-villains or firing off machine guns.

Those days may have come and gone, but the musical is far from dead. In fact, the recent success of TV’s Glee and the big-screen adaptation of Mamma Mia! suggest the genre may be on the rise. Hoping to take advantage of this swing of the proverbial pendulum are the makers of the hit Broadway show Wicked.

Deadline reports that the musical’s producer, Marc Platt, along with scripter Winnie Holzman and songwriter Stephen Schwartz have begun taking meetings in L.A. with directors. Their goal: bring the stage show to the silver screen.

Based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, focusing on the complicated relationship between Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the green-skinned villain of the classic story.

Since debuting on Broadway in 2003, the stage production has grossed over $2 billion worldwide, making it one of the most successful productions of all time.

Now Universal hopes to repeat its Mamma Mia! success by taking a beloved theatrical show and transferring the magic to film. To achieve such ends, the Wicked creative team is meeting with directors ranging from Star Trek’s J.J. Abrams to Chicago’s Rob Marshall.

Wicked is one of several Wizard of Oz related projects in development. Others include Sam Raimi’s wizard-origin story The Great and Powerful Oz and a pair of projects at Warners, a family friendly take called, simply, Oz and a darker, as-yet-untitled version of the story set in the present day.

(Photo by PR Photos)

Story provided by the Dish Information Corporation

Patton Oswalt doesn’t look like one of the biggest stars in Hollywood (true story: someone who works in this office once walked up to him and said “You look kind of familiar. Did you date my friend Jen?”). Yet slowly but surely, the stand-up comic is establishing himself as one of the funniest – and most in-demand – men in town.

The Wrap is reporting that Oswalt has just signed on to co-star in the upcoming A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, the third instalment in the beloved stoner comedy franchise. There’s no word yet on which character Patton is set to play, though New York Magazine – which has read the script – speculates that it will be a man whose infant daughter accidentally gets high on drugs.

If anyone can make that scene funny, it might be Oswalt.

Already a star in the world of alternative stand-up comedy, with four acclaimed live albums under his belt, Oswalt first began getting noticed with his recurring role as Doug’s best-friend Spence on the hit TV sitcom The King of Queens.

Since then, he’s starred in Pixar’s brilliant Ratatouille as Remy — the rat who dreamed of being a chef — and in the dark and edgy indie drama Big Fan. The 41-year-old star also popped up in last year’s Matt Damon hit The Informant!

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas will reunite the two lead potheads who were last seen in Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Production on is already underway and the good news is, it’s in 3D.

The bad news is it won’t be in theatres until December 2011.

(Photo by PR Photos)

Story provided by the Dish Information Corporation

Now that Get Him to the Greek is a smash hit around the world, comedian Russell Brand is a bigger star than ever. As new audiences discover the British funnyman, what everyone seems to want to know is if he’s really as crazy as he seems.

And if recent comments about his upcoming wedding to fiancée Katy Perry are any indication, the answer is: MAYBE!

Contact Music reports that the 35 year-old comic, who rose to fame in his native England as a presenter on MTV and a host of the reality TV show Big Brother, recently talked about wearing pop-star Katy’s clothes and not wanting to wear anything at all to his wedding. “I take anything of hers that I find lying about,” says Brand. “I’m wearing a t-shirt of hers and a sock that’s so small my toes are scrunched up.”

Don’t expect the eccentric to wear a white dress to the wedding however. Brand says he has something even more outrageous planned for the ceremony. “We are going to do the wedding naked! All the families will be naked!”

Brand plays fictional rock star Aldous Snow in Get Him to the Greek, reprising the character he originally brought to life in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Already a major star back home, Brand is as famous for his ribald antics as he is for his radio, TV, stage and film performances.

These days however, Brand is fixated on his upcoming nuptials. So much so, he’s apparently been having strange dreams about the ceremony. “All my dream weddings don’t make sense,” he says. “The vicar will start melting. The people in the front row will turn into people from my school. And then everyone will only say the word ‘potato’.”

Sex And The City 2 is getting terrible reviews and was mauled at the box office during its opening weekend by a large, smelly, green ogre with a heart of gold, but there’s still a chance Carrie and the girls could be back for another outing.

Despite a massive media blitz behind the debut, the second Sex film based on the HBO series, came in number two for the weekend, behind Shrek Forever After, now in its second week. SATC2 grossed only $32.1 million at the US box office while Shrek brought in $43.3 million.

Actress Kim Cattrall, who plays sexy cougar Samantha, probably didn’t see any of it coming last week, when she told Britain’s News of the World she’d love to turn the series into a trilogy.

“Oh yes I would want that!” she says. “Samantha has changed my life and in such a positive way. And not just mine. . . so many people. When women get together amazing things happen. Sex and the City definitely brought women back together and that’s a very powerful thing.”

Cattrall also told the UK’s Sunday Mail, “I think there are more stories to be told but once we start repeating ourselves, it’s time to say goodbye. I hope we can do it for as long as the audience is there and the characters are interesting and growing.”

Co-star Cynthia Nixon however, tells Digital Spy the final decision comes down to director Michael Patrick King. “Michael Patrick has to take a breath and think about whether he has another one in him to tell,” Nixon said.

For his part, King says that there’s only one good reason to keep the franchise going. “It’s not about box office, it’s about the story. I love these characters, they’re vibrant, as long as they keep growing and evolving who knows?”

Meanwhile, reports are the star Sarah Jessica Parker is not keen on a third flick.

For a while it seemed as though every young man in Hollywood was lining up for the chance to play America’s greatest super-soldier. Now, it seems, Captain America finally has a face to go behind the mask.

Chris Evans has been officially offered the role of a lifetime according to trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter. Evans beat out a long line of contenders for the part, including G.I. Joe’s Channing Tatum, John Krasinski from The Office and Ryan Phillippe.

The First Avenger: Captain America will be the first in a trio of films about the star-spangled do-gooder. The offer to Evans is reportedly for all three films as well as other Marvel Comics projects, including an Avengers film.

Evans is already familiar to Marvel fans after starring in both Fantastic Four films as Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch. News of the casting may not please the fanboys however, as a growing movement headed by legendary comic artist Alex Ross had been calling for Mad Men’s Jon Hamm to step into the part.

The last time the Captain was brought to the screen, in an early-90s straight-to-video B-movie, the hero was played by Matt Salinger, son of late, great author J.D.

It took a lot more than a wizard’s spell to extinguish a fire that gutted Harry Potter’s Hogwarts castle. Firefighters were called to Leavesden Studios in Watford, Hertfordshire on Friday night after a blaze broke out on set.

A special effects pyrotechnic explosion went awry as the film’s crew prepped to shoot a large battle scene for part one of the final Harry story. Firefighters worked for forty minutes to put out a fire that roared through the set of the famous school for wizards.

None of the film’s famous cast were present at the time, but over $150,000 of damage was caused.

A source told Britain’s News of the World newspaper “We were shooting the scenes where Hogwarts gets blown up in battle. But fire managed to catch hold of the set and it went up in flames. It was completely out of control at one point.”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the final installment of the series. Splitting the last book into two movies, the film follows Harry as he wages his last big battle with Voldemort. And this time, not only is it personal — it’s in 3-D.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, says there’s activity on the paranormal front. Paramount has reportedly hired screenwriter Michael R. Perry and director Kevin Greutert to create the sequel to the surprise hit horror movie, ‘Paranormal Activity.’

Perry has written for television’s ‘Millennium’ and ‘The Guardian’ and Greutert edited five of the ‘Saw’ movies and directed the sixth. Interesting. Even more so is the news that, according to Heat Vision, plans are to release the sequel into theatres on the pre-Halloween weekend of October 22, meaning it will go head to head with the next ‘Saw,’ as the series traditionally opens on that weekend each year.

Greutert’s ‘Saw’ movie grossed just $31 million worldwide and prompted speculation that the franchise was on its last legs. But the producer and director of the first ‘Paranormal Activity,’ Jason Blum and Oren Peli, are not daunted by the showing and are confident in Greutert’s vision for the sequel.

“These guys get it, and the fans won’t be disappointed,” said Peli.

‘Paranormal Activity’ shocked everyone, including its own producers, when it took in $151 million in worldwide grosses last fall. The film was made on a shoestring $15,000 budget and shot in Oren Peli’s home.

Heat Vision says Paramount president Adam Goodman has since launched an initiative to spend $1 million a year to make 10-20 similarly micro-budgeted films, each costing less than $100,000. The studio is also releasing Peli’s follow-up, ‘Area 51.’

‘Paranormal Activity’ is often compared to 1999’s ‘The Blair Witch Project,’ another cheaply made horror, which went on to earn big. But the bigger budget sequel, ‘Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2′ was both a critical and box office flop.

(Image: Paramount Pictures)