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Todd Phillips Lines Up Due Date and Hangover 2 with Galifianakis

by Alex Billington
July 10, 2009

Comedy director Todd Phillips must really be riding a high right now. His latest film, The Hangover, is easily the sleeper hit of the summer, with an impressive $210 million earned at the box office so far. Variety just published an article looking at what's up next for him (and his enormous new salary), and thankfully he's already got it sorted out. Phillips will next direct the road trip comedy Due Date and follow that one year later with The Hangover 2. Stand-up comic turned actor Zach Galifianakis is already set to star in Due Date and will most likely return for The Hangover 2, making him and Phillips quite good buddies.

Due Date, written by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland then revised by Adam Sztykiel, is a comedy about fatherhood in which an expectant dad and his unlikely travel companion (Galifianakis) race cross-country in hopes of making it home for the birth of his first child. Sounds a bit like The Hangover but-- well, you get it. As for The Hangover 2, a plot hasn't been announced for it yet, but Phillips and his writing partner Scot Armstrong are already writing the sequel. Warner Brothers gave them the go-ahead back in May, before The Hangover had event hit, because they were so confident it'd be a huge success. And it obviously was.

The Hangover is one of those somewhat rare Hollywood success stories. The article in Variety addresses Phillips' struggles with the studio and how they decided to just give him the go ahead with his cast even though they weren't exactly their top choices. I enjoyed the film but it's not one of my favorite movies of the summer. However, I will be following both Due Date and The Hangover 2 to see where Phillips takes us next. In the meantime, does anyone have any ideas for The Hangover 2? Where can they go this time?

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Jake

How can you call The Hangover a sleeper hit. It had huge buzz for months and months before its release.
Greg

I agree with Jake. It wasn't a sleeper hit, at least by the traditional definition. Yes, word-of-mouth was there to help it stay afloat, but when a film opens at, what, $40M, it's a full-on hit. That probably had to do with the endless commercials for the film. But hey, I don't begrudge Warners for that. They had a film that stood up to that aggressive campaign. As for the sequel, it's going to be a challenge. You can't realistically expect to have a similar situation happen to them, so I hope they don't try to just remake the first film. For me, I ended up loking the characters enough to see them in another kind of adventure, outside of a black-out bacchanal. So, I'm hoping we end up with a film that's a sequel only in spirit. But that's not likely. I'm willing to bet the rumor about it taking place in a foreign country will be spot-on. But who knows? Personally, I'm more worried about Zach's film career. I'm not saying he can't knock these two films out of the park, but as a longtime fan, I want to see him do more interesting projects, even something with a more dramatic flair. I think he's one of those comedian-types that excels at drama. In fact, he started out wanting to be an actor before he became a comedian, so I don't think that it's outside his wheelhouse, so to speak. But I'm probably rushing things. He needs to nail this thing down so he can be offered more serious roles. I just don't want him to fall into the trap that so many other comedians do. He's much smarter and much more valuable than that.
Otacon

@1 because no one expected it to outtake Land of the Lost. The fact that it trounced all over it AND made huge amounts of money (more than what was forecast) shows that it was a sleeper hit.
whomever

Anything with Zach Galifanakis in it will be good. The guy is hilarious.
James

The Hangover was a Blockbuster. Jesus, you run a movie website and you don't even know what a sleeper hit is? Come on man.
He tries so hard...

#3...I did. I agree with #2 about Zach's career and him possibly being Will Ferrel typecasted. #5, it should not come as a shock to you by now. It's a blog...not TMZ. But seriously, Hangover 2? These type of sequels never do well.
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

Isn't DUE DATE a lot like AWAY WE GO?
DoomCanoe

if i remember correctly they left it open for a huge return to Vegas... an $80,000 return. If they pulled off everything they did in the first movie on a teacher and dentist's salary imagine what they can do with an extra 80k... plus Stu is going back for Jade, Doug has to go on a Honeymoon (thats right in Vegas... personally i think that would be a hilarious reason to force Doug and Tracy there), Phil wants to party and spend that 80K, and Alan's just there. oh! they lose Tracy this time around. throw in cameos from almost everyone who was in the first one, along with Stu really marring Jade in the Best Little Chapel this time around, handing out all his cups and hats. Alan pulling in BANK!! with his freaky retarded mind powers, Doug and his wife happy because the Asian's didn't kill her, Jade and Tracy are friends now seeing as how they were both captured by the Asian's for ransom, shes also happy to return to Stu and Phil is just Phil. Party The End
Movieraider321

Okay I am being completely serious, The Hangover is one of my favorite comedy films easily in my top 10. It is over the top enough but not like Bruno or Borat level where it is fun and enjoyable to watch over and over again. I've seen it a total of 3 times. Borat I got sick of after the 2nd time, and to be honest I saw Bruno at a sneak screening and don't think they changed much due to everyone's reactions. So here's hoping the sequal will be just as amazing
Conrad

wow....Alex you got butchered!
Jake

@3 The studio and a lot of people were expecting it to do well. It was tracking incredibly well, so much so that the studio started moving forward with a sequel before the first one was even released. In no way was The Hangover a "sleeper hit".
Katie

Can anyone tell me where I can find a picture of the wedding cake that was showed in Hangover? It's perfect for my wedding!
iloveweddings

Here's a close up picture of the wedding cake from "The Hangover"... Check It Out: http://www.celebritybrideguide.com/the-hangover-wedding/