Adam McKay, director of “Talladega Nights,” revealed an idea he had for a sequel to the hit NASCAR movie. In a recent interview with Business Insider, McKay said that plans were put into place for a “Talladega Nights 2,” and the plot of the film would have come as a shock to NASCAR fans.
“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” was released in 2006. The plot of the comedy surrounded main character Ricky Bobby, played by actor Will Ferrell, and his trials and tribulations as a NASCAR driver.
However, a “Talladega Nights 2” would have looked drastically different from the original movie.
McKay says ‘Talladega Nights’ sequel would have focused on Formula One
In the interview with Business Insider, McKay details how the Ricky Bobby character would have ventured into Formula One in “Talladega Nights 2,” a huge contrast to the original NASCAR-based film.
“We did have an idea for ‘Talladega Nights 2.’ It was that Ricky Bobby was going to hook up with an F1 team, and he was going to race in Denmark or the Netherlands and feel like he’s in a communist country because they have nationalized healthcare,” McKay said.
In addition, McKay said part of the story was that Ricky Bobby would have to endure the learning curves of driving an F1 car, while also adapting to the European lifestyle.
“Along with struggling with how fast those F1 cars go, he would have clashed with far-left-leaning Europe compared to America,” McKay said.
Between the difficulty and fatigue of filming race car scenes coupled with the desire to do a comedy film in a house (Step Brothers), McKay opted not to make “Talladega Nights 2.”
“The only reason we didn’t do it was it’s a lot of work to shoot race car stuff. The reason we went and did ‘Step Brothers’ next was we felt like, can we just go do comedy in a house? We were tired after ‘Talladega Nights.’ It never got to the point where we wrote a treatment,” McKay said.
For fans of “Talladega Nights,” McKay’s idea of a sequel is another major “what if” in the movie industry.
‘Talladega Nights’ reaches 20-year anniversary
The NASCAR-themed movie “Talladega Nights” hit theaters on August 4, 2006. Rated PG-13, the movie is just over a month away from reaching the 20-year mark.
“Talladega Nights” was released by Columbia Pictures through Sony Pictures Releasing. The movie was a hit, grossing over $163 million worldwide. It resonated with many NASCAR fans and made for humorous one-liners not lost on the sport today.
One of the most prominent lines from the movie was when Ricky Bobby said “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”
“Talladega Nights” also saw a number of NASCAR figures make cameos. That included drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, announcers Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip, Wally Dallenbach Jr., and the late Bill Weber and Benny Parsons.
“Talladega Nights” was not the only NASCAR-themed movie to be released in 2006. On May 26, 2006, the hit animated Pixar movie “Cars” was released, featuring the story of Lightning McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson. “Cars” was a massive success, too, generating $462 million worldwide.
‘Talladega Nights’ Director Reveals Shocking Idea For Movie Sequel