Will Ferrell has a brilliant plot idea for a 'Step Brothers' sequel

Step Brothers seems to tick all the sequel boxes, so it’s a surprise in some ways that one has never arrived.

The Will Ferrell comedy has enjoyed a cult following ever since its 2008 release, but while Anchorman was given the sequel treatment in 2013 and Daddy’s Home is set for the same this year, Step Brothers 2 never materialised despite the occasional hint that it might arrive.

It almost happened a few years ago: following the box-office success of the original, written by Ferrell and also starring John C. Reilly, there was talk of number two back in 2012.

That dream might be dead for the time being, but Ferrell has given a bit of an indication to what the film might have looked like if it had come to fruition.

And it may well be enough of a teaser for fans to encourage the actor and writer to give it another go.

“We had a whole story where John and I follow our parents to live in a retirement community and try to convince them that we earned the right to retire as well,” Ferrell told the New York Daily News.

He explained he and long-time collaborator Adam McKay “got sidetracked with other things,” one of which – based on the timings – may have been Anchorman 2.

In the intervening years, the pair have also worked together on Get Hard, while McKay won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Big Short in 2015.

“The entertainment media and fans beg you, and beg you, and beg you for sequels, and then you make it and you definitely have a fraction that’s like, ‘Well, not as good as the first one.’” Ferrell added.

“So I guess it’s a catch-22. It’s a nice catch-22, because people love the movies in the first place.”

While the lead actors might not get another crack at their Step Brothers characters, Ferrell and Reilly will be reunited for 2018 comedy Holmes & Watson.

(Images: Rex Features)