Justin Theroux Talks Possibility of Tropic Thunder Sequel

Justin Theroux, the actor and filmmaker who served as writer (with Ben Stiller) and executive producer on the modern comedy classic Tropic Thunder, says he won’t rule out the idea of returning to that movie’s world. Theroux, who appears in next week’s long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, told ComicBook that if he had an idea for a Tropic Thunder sequel, he would “definitely” do one — and that he already has a few ideas kicking around for what that might involve. The original movie, which starred Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey, Jr., is constantly brought up in conversations about movies that you “couldn’t do anymore,” primarily due to Downey wearing blackface.

Of course, that’s largely nonsense. The use of blackface in the movie was specifically designed to ridicule both the practice of blackface generally and the way some “method” actors overcommit to their roles in specific, and it’s unlikely such a joke would draw much serious criticism in context.

“I have some stuff already churning that I’d love to do, but I’ll keep it a secret,” Theroux teased. “Hollywood just gets funnier as the years go on. It never ceases to amaze me how navel-gazing it can be. There’s a million things — we’ve gone through so many movements in Hollywood that I think those would all be somehow in the mix. Listen, if an idea strikes me, like it struck Tim, where it’s like, ‘Oh, this could be a sequel,’ I’ll definitely do a sequel.”

In Tropic Thunder, Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), pampered action superstar, sets out for Southeast Asia to take part in the biggest, most-expensive war movie produced, but soon after filming begins, he and his co-stars, Oscar-winner Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), comic Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) and the rest of the crew, must become real soldiers when fighting breaks out in that part of the jungle.

By “movements,” it’s hard to know exactly what Theroux means, but some of the obvious targets for a modern lampoon of Hollywood are reboots and legacy sequels, franchise movies (especially superheroes), the fallout of the #MeToo movement, and the biopics and historical epics that continue to be perennial Oscar bait.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hits theaters everywhere on September 6th.