ANCHORMAN DIRECTOR ADAM MCKAY DETAILS PLANNED “TALLADEGA NIGHTS” SEQUEL, OPEN TO REUNITING WITH WILL FERRELL AFTER BITTER SPLIT

Nearly seven years after ending their creative partnership, director Adam McKay says he'd be happy to work with Will Ferrell again. While promoting the 20th anniversary theatrical re-release of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, McKay said the two were tremendous creative partners and insisted the only real tension came from shutting down their production company, Gary Sanchez Productions, in 2019. McKay also revealed an abandoned idea for a Talladega Nights sequel that would have sent Ricky Bobby to Europe to race with a Formula 1 team, where the NASCAR star would have been bewildered by European culture and nationalized healthcare. Their split had long been linked to McKay casting John C. Reilly as Lakers owner Jerry Buss in the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty instead of Ferrell, without first telling him. McKay later admitted he mishandled the situation and should have called Ferrell himself. Ferrell has previously said their partnership ended because McKay wanted to expand into producing more projects, while he preferred to focus on acting. Despite the breakup, McKay says the door is still open to teaming up with Ferrell again.