Exclusive: Ben Stiller In Talks For Dodgeball 2
Ben Stiller may return for the long-awaited Dodgeball sequel.
Ben Stiller is in negotiations to return for the long-awaited Dodgeball 2 alongside Vince Vaughn. According to our trusted and proven sources, the Severance director may come back for the sequel to the blockbuster 2004 sports comedy, likely reprising the character of the narcissistic, fitness-obsessed gym owner White Goodman. While it has not yet been confirmed that Ben Stiller will appear in Dodgeball 2, it would certainly sweeten the pot for us.
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story starred Vince Vaughn as Peter LaFleur, the owner of a small, junky gym for oddballs like Stephen Root (Barry), Alan Tudyk (Rogue One), and Justin Long (Barbarian), who might be generously described as “slobs.” Across the street, Ben Stiller’s White Goodman presides over the massive, shiny Globo Gym, and its crew of hard-bodied snobs named things like Blade, Lazer, and Blazer. As one might expect, this leads to a dodgeball-heavy battle of slobs vs. snobs.
Although the film was originally written and filmed with Vince Vaughn’s team of underdogs losing to Ben Stiller’s overdogs, the ending tested poorly with audiences and was re-shot for a more traditional happy ending. This new ending also revealed that Ben Stiller’s character had sunk into a binge-eating depression and morbid obesity, blaming legendary martial artist Chuck Norris for his loss. It makes sense in the context of the movie.
It is most probable that if Ben Stiller does return for Dodgeball 2, he will be playing White Goodman once again; however, that does raise the question of whether we will see a return of jacked, uber-fit White or his larger incarnation from the end of the movie. It is also unknown whether Stiller would be the primary antagonist of the film, or whether it will use the tried-and-true sequel technique of bringing back the bad guy as a begrudging ally to the heroes. After all, it has worked for the last five Fast and Furious movies; there’s no reason it can’t work for Dodgeball 2.
It is also possible that Ben Stiller could return as an entirely new character, like the briefly mentioned White Goodman Sr., who bankrolled his supposedly self-made son’s gym business. This would actually have some precedent in his career. The Tropic Thunder director/star previously played a very white Goodman-like fitness-obsessed antagonist in the 1995 comedy Heavyweights and briefly portrayed that character’s father in the final scenes, so, hey, it could happen.
The first Dodgeball movie was a sleeper hit, grossing $168 million off a $20 million budget, so the only surprising thing here is that it took so long to get a sequel off the ground. Even if Ben Stiller ends up not appearing in the film (and we pray he will), we expect that he would still retain some form of producer credit. However, we would love to see Stiller return to his raunchy, There’s Something About Mary-like comedic roots, and Dodgeball 2 seems like a perfect opportunity.
