First Teaser Trailer for ANCHORMAN 2 Attached to Screenings of THE DICTATOR

Though principal photography for the long-awaited Anchorman 2 isn’t scheduled to begin until next February, it appears that we’ll actually get our first look at the reunited Channel 4 news team much sooner than we thought.  We’ve been told by someone who caught an advanced screening of The Dictator that the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy is preceded by a brief teaser featuring the entire news team (sans Christina Applegate) talking about how excited they are to return.  Huzzah!  Hit the jump for more.

Adam McKay, who wrote and directed Anchorman and is currently writing the sequel with Will Ferrell, did some script work on The Dictator so this move would make sense.  Moreover, McKay tweeted the following earlier today:

“See the Dictator (I worked on it and it’s crazy funny), in addition to Campaign trailer with Zach and Will there’s another treat before it.”

By Odin’s beard, it appears this teaser is all but confirmed.  Here’s what our source had to say about the teaser:

“Just got out of a screening of The Dictator. There is an Anchorman 2 teaser attached featuring the Channel 4 news team (minus Veronica) stating how excited they are to return… a concept that Brick seems to have a hard time with. Also, not sure if it was an official title or more of a slogan but the screen title read Anchorman: The Legend Continues followed by ’2013′”

This is certainly exciting news.  We had previously heard that Paramount was considering a release somewhere between Christmas 2013 and summer 2014, and even with the February start-date it’s entirely plausible for McKay to finish the film in time for a late 2013 release.  No official casting statements have been made, but I sincerely hope they bring Applegate back.  She was a great asset to the first film, and McKay previously hinted that the sequel would focus on the dawn of the 24-hour news cycle and I think Applegate could flourish with that kind of material.  If you missed it, be sure to check out Matt’s editorial on what actors he thinks should join the cast for the sequel.

I’m insanely happy that Anchorman 2 is a reality, and this teaser is almost worth the price of admission for The Dictator if it doesn’t appear online beforehand.  The Dictator opens in theaters on May 16th.  As a refresher, here’s the first trailer for the original Anchorman: