Jorma Taccone Has Pitched A 'MacGruber' TV Series Featuring The Cast Of The Movie
MacGruber, the cult comedy from director Jorma Taccone, tanked at the box office when it hit theaters back in 2010. With a ten million dollar budget, it only earned $9.3 million at the worldwide box office – which may explain why a sequel hasn't materialized yet.
But the vocal fans of the movie may be on the brink of some good news: in a new interview, Taccone says he has pitched a MacGruber TV series to several streaming networks, and the whole cast from the movie is interested in reprising their roles. Are you ready to pound some more Cunth?
Speaking with The Daily Beast, Taccone reveals that a MacGruber TV show may be in the cards:
"We just spent the last two days pitching it as a series. Eight-to-ten episodes. I'm really hoping that when you print this there's an announcement that it's actually happening, because I know nothing right now. This is the first time I've mentioned it, so this may be a tragic interview."
Taccone explains that they can "expand the world" in a television show, which makes me wonder if they're going to expand the scope of the movie's premise beyond an '80s action movie parody and open up other avenues of storytelling.
A TV series would be a way to bring this character full circle, since he started in sketches on Saturday Night Live before making the jump to the big screen. And while you can't have more MacGruber without star and co-writer Will Forte, Taccone says the rest of the film's cast is ready to return, too – even Val Kilmer's villainous Dieter von Cunth, who (spoilers for the ending of MacGruber) was shot dozens of times while falling hundreds of feet off a cliffside, and was then blown up by a grenade and urinated on by a triumphant MacGruber.
"It's everyone. Val was blown up pretty badly, he'll have half a head. Everyone is so down. What's nice is that, when you make something that had the heartbreak of not doing so well financially... I would feel terrible if the people involved were embarrassed about it, but Ryan [Phillippe] loves that s***, Kristen [Wiig] loves that s***, all the people involved are so psyched."
Taccone and Forte have been kicking around ideas for MacGruber 2 ever since the first one hit theaters, even writing an early draft of the script in 2016. Much of Forte's time over the past several years was taken up by his Fox TV series The Last Man on Earth, but now that that show is finished, they've revamped their sequel concept into the form of a TV pitch.
Forte promised that MacGruber 2 would happen in "some form" back in 2013, so all he needs for his promise to be upheld is for some streaming network to have the balls to pick this up. While Apple's family-friendly approach to its upcoming streaming service may not make it the best fit, this seems like a no brainer for Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu. Do it, you cowards!