By Eric Rotteveel
Staff Writer

It has taken 10 years, but Ron Burgundy and the gang are finally back.

As a sequel to “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”, “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” will be released Dec. 20. Excitement is brewing as the premiere date comes closer and closer.

“I’ve seen Anchorman countless times, and it is by far my favorite movie,” freshman Alec Rubin said. “I think with the amazing cast and impressive production team, Anchorman 2 will be just as funny as or even funnier than the first one.”

The world first became aware of a sequel when Will Ferrell (acting as Ron Burgundy) announced there would be one on the late-night show Conan in Mar. 2012. That announcement was followed by a series of short teaser trailers. Then the official trailer was released on June 19, 2013. In addition, Ferrell also portrays Ron Burgundy in the new Dodge Durango commercials, which promote the new movie as well.

Many Anchorman fans have been pressing for a sequel for years, but making a deal to budget the movie was a hard compromise for the actors and directors to make with Paramount Pictures. At first, director Adam Mckay asked for an 80 million dollar deal to budget the movie, but Paramount Pictures immediately stated that they would not fund that amount of money. For years the two sides struggled to come close to an agreement, and it looked as if the movie would never happen.

Despite the financial troubles, a deal was eventually worked out to start filming the much anticipated sequel with the original cast, many of whom are now mega-stars. The whole Channel 4 news team is back with Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy, Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone, Steve Carell as Brick Tamland, Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana and David Koechner as Champ Kind. Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn also return in their supporting roles as competing anchors, and Kristen Wiig who is new to the cast as Chani, Brick’s lover.

This time around, as the prosperity of the 1970’s ends, the group separates and hits rock bottom. This all changes, however, when the group is recruited to be a part of a new 24-hour news channel in New York City. As in the first movie, the group has to battle diversity, this time with Asian and African-American journalists.

In an article from the LA Times, “They meet their first openly-gay person,” McKay said. “And obviously the news operation has totally changed. They’re always dealing with change of some kind. And they never do well with change.”

The movie will also feature a long list of cameo appearances. The list includes actors Nicole Kidman, Jim Carrey, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kirsten Dunst, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, Amy Poehler and John C. Reilly. Artists Drake, Kanye West and the band Green Day are also expected to make an appearance.

The success of the first “Anchorman,” coupled with the increased popularity of the main characters, makes this film one of the most hyped movies of the year. Now the question is; will this movie live up to the hype? It will, according to David Koechner in an article from FOX News. He stated, “There will be plenty of laughs and no one will leave disappointed.”

Hopefully, he is right as fans have waited years for this movie to come to theaters. They won’t have to wait much longer though, as the Dec. 20 date is only a month away.