The original plot of “Anchorman” was so absurd, you will not even believe it

The cinematic master piece that is Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is an incredibly outrageous film, in the best way possible. The film, co-written by and starring Will Ferrell — who wrote the film with Adam McKay, who also directed the film — has emerged as one of the most quotable films of the last decade but apparently the final cut of the film is actually way less weird than the initial premise.

During a recent appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Ferrell cited Anchorman as his film of the films he’s made, partially because of the work that had taken to get the film actually made. The SNL and Elf actor revealed that it took a long time for the film to get approved, noting that he and McKay received ten rejections on one day.

Ferrell told Simmons that the initial script was NOT simply that of a newsroom struggling to accept a female anchor, rather it featured a wild invasion of orangutans and Chinese throwing stars.

“The first version of Anchorman is basically the movie Alive, where the year is 1976, and we are flying to Philadelphia to celebrate the Bicentennial, and also, all the newsmen from around the country are flying in from their affiliates to have some big convention, Ferrell told Simmons. “Ron convinces the pilot that he knows how to fly the charter jet, and he immediately crash-lands it in the mountains. And it’s just the story of them surviving and trying to get off the mountainside. They clipped a cargo plane, and the cargo plane crashed as well, close to them, and it was carrying only boxes of orangutans and Chinese throwing stars.

Ferrell revealed that he and McKay had been inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson, who was guest writing on Saturday Night live. Anderson encouraged the duo to write something that he could help get made. However, it seems that their initial iteration of Anchorman was too wild for the There Will Be Blood director. But all was not lost for Ferrell and McKay as the rest is history, complete with a hilarious sequel.

While we’ll never know how Ron and the rest of the KVWN boys fared against the orangutan invasion, we have to say, that sixty percent of the time, Anchorman makes us laugh every time.