I genuinely thought this day would never come. After coming thisclose to a greenlight with the original cast and director in tow, Paramount ultimately passed on a sequel to Anchorman, one of the best comedies of the past 25 years. Writer/director Adam McKay revealed that their pitch to the studio was to do an all-out musical, with the entire cast performing for four months on Broadway before going straight into production. Apparently averse to brilliant ideas, Paramount balked at the notion. Now, with great pleasure, I’m happy to say that Anchorman 2 is back on track. Hit the jump for more.

[Update: Backstage video of Ron Burgandy/Will Ferrell’s antics has gone online, and we’ve included it after the jump. Also, McKay confirmed on Twitter that the movie is definitely happening and filming on Anchorman 2 will begin in February 2013. Huzzah!]

Word started getting out late this afternoon that Will Ferrell is set to appear in character as Ron Burgandy on Conan tonight. Rumors swirled that this had something to do with Anchorman 2, and now Deadline confirms that the sequel has come together with Judd Apatow producing, McKay writing and directing, and Ferrell starring with Steve Carell and Paul Rudd. There’s no word on whether or not the musical plan still stands, but I sincerely hope so. I also hope David Koechner, Christina Applegate and Fred Willard all come back for the follow-up.

Since Anchorman‘s release in 2004, nearly every team member behind the film has become a comedy star in their own right. The cast and crew behind Anchorman 2 now reads like an All-Star roster, and I’m beyond thrilled that everyone was game to come back for another go-around. Ferrell recently told Steve that he and McKay are planning on writing a sequel to Step Brothers soon (another new comedy classic), with hopes of shooting this fall. No word on how this news affects the Step Brothers plan or how quickly Anchorman 2 will move forward, but they’ll have to sync more than a few crowded schedules from the busy ensemble cast. Is it too much to hope for Adam Scott and John C. Reilly to be added to the roster to complete the comedy dream team?

Here’s Ferrell’s appearance on Conan via TeamCoco.



Here’s the backstage video via Funny or Die: