If you walked into a movie theater ten years ago and saw ‘Step Brothers’ then you were likely introduced to a raucous good time that highlighted the bro-camaraderie that only Will Ferrel and John C Reilly are capable of. The R-Rated comedy turned into a pop-phenomenon and critics have been very kind to the film in retrospect, something extremely rare for R-Rated comedies. Now, director/writer Adam McKay is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of his hit film by looking back on some of the funniest moments while ruminating at the idea of a potential sequel. Adam McKay isn’t averse to sequels, as shown by ‘Anchorman 2’, so there may be some meat on the bone of this story.
What most people don’t realize about Adam McKay, though he’d be the first to point it out, is that McKay works closely with Ferrell and Reilly on the development of a ton of projects. In fact, the trio has a partnership of sorts to develop very specific types of films. This meant that all three figures were involved in developing the story that would eventually become ‘Step Brothers’. What should surprise people is that the step-sibling themed comedy wasn’t their first idea. According to McKay, he and Ferrell had thought about making the film about Reilly and Ferrell actually coming into contact with a UFO — only nobody believes them. McKay also goes on to explain that they even thought about making a film where Reilly and Ferrell would be a pair of over-the-top police officers, “We had a couple ideas about cops.”
Adam McKay also went on throughout his interview about how his partnership with Ferrell turned into a lucrative trio with the addition of John C Reilly. All three figures worked together on the cult classic film, ‘Talladega Nights’ and that chemistry helped to inform their work on ‘Step Brothers’. They wanted to keep their momentum going forward while doubling down on the chemistry that they were rapidly developing. McKay says of their work together, “We realized it was kind of absurd. We realized it was a little crazy, but we kind of liked that coming off of ‘Talladega Nights’.”
With all of that being said, McKay went on to reveal during the interview that he was open to a sequel — but he wasn’t in any rush. McKay said, I”I don’t think the Step Brothers idea gets worse the older these guys get.”
