Anyone who followed the progress of director Todd Phillips The Hangover knows Warner Bros. has talked about a sequel since before the movie got released. The story is the studio loved the footage, loved the movie, and knew they had a huge hit before the film got released. Of course we all know what happened, as The Hangover went to become to highest grossing R rated comedy of all time, taking in almost $460 million at the worldwide box office. That is a staggering amount of money for any film, let alone a comedy starring no movie stars. Therefore it's no surprise the studio has already announced a May 25th, 2011 release date for The Hangover 2.
When I spoke to Todd Phillips at the Las Vegas junket for the first film, he told me he already had an idea for the sequel, but wouldn't give me any info on where it would take place. And in a recent interview with EW, he pretty much told them the same thing; the only difference is he now says he's midway through working on the script for the sequel. He also confirms the trio of Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis will be back (no surprise) and that it won't simply rehash the stag-party-disaster formula of the first film.
"What people loved about The Hangover was not Las Vegas or the bachelor party but these three characters," Phillips says. "I think you can take those characters and put them in other situations, and you don't need the sell of Vegas and a bachelor party and all that other stuff."
While the location of the chaos is clearly the big mystery of The Hangover 2, I'm going to pitch my idea one more time...a cruise ship! Think about it. No one has done a great comedy on a cruise ship and it's ripe with comedic possibilities. Also, it puts everyone in one location that no one can leave. If you have an idea for the location, leave it in the comments. I'm curious who will figure it out first.