LOS ANGELES — TAKE a raunchy Hollywood comedy, remove the jokes, and what do you have left?

Room for 763 new, and even raunchier, jokes.

In what appears to be the movie equivalent of blood replacement therapy — and possibly a cinematic first — “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” released in December and still on a handful of screens this week, is poised for a fresh release by Paramount Pictures in about 1,000 theaters next Friday. But with all new humor. Why?

In this era of high-speed digital editing, the better question is: Why not?

“We started talking and realized, we can replace every single joke in the movie with another joke,” said Adam McKay, who directed “Anchorman 2” and wrote the film with its star, Will Ferrell.

Mr. Ferrell was expected to announce the rerelease during a Thursday night appearance with Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show.”