The secret connection between 'Anchorman' and 'Vice'
At the end of Anchorman, the adored 2004 comedy about old-school local TV anchors in 1970s San Diego, it’s revealed that Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) — the dim-witted, lamp-loving weatherman, would someday be one of the top political advisors to the George W. Bush White House. It was clearly a shot by director Adam McKay at Bush’s intellect.
But amazingly, the zing now proves cinematically prophetic with the upcoming release of Vice, a satirical McKay-directed biopic about GWB’s second in command, Dick Cheney (played by a hardly recognizable Christian Bale). Carell plays Donald Rumsfeld, whose relationship with Cheney dated back to the late-1960s, and who served as secretary of defense in the Bush-Cheney administration.
Did McKay really plot out that casting so far in advance?
“It was all drawn up; I have loose notebooks in my closet, and that was it,” McKay joked to Yahoo Entertainment (watch above) during a recent interview, in which he was joined by Bale and Amy Adams (who plays Lynne Cheney).
“Adam knew even then,” Carell concurred. “He knew 14 years ago that this was all going to come together. That was the impetus, actually.” (In all seriousness, Carell said the coincidence just recently dawned on him.)
And wait until you hear about McKay’s plans for where he takes the ACU (Anchorman Cinematic Universe) from here. It has already continued with, well … 2013’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.
“The next movie we’re doing with Anchorman is Anchorman 3: Ron Burgundy Saves the World. It’s about global warming, and Brick Tamland is a right-wing senator who has to be convinced that global warming is real because it’s going to destroy the weather,” McKay said.
“This was all planned.”
Vice opens Christmas Day. Watch the trailer:
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