I remember when I first saw Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy — it was on the big screen opening dayin 2004, and as I fondly recall I laughed my ass off many times during that first viewing and then some. Then when the movie was released on DVD I bought it and began to watch it repeatedly. Soon Anchorman became one of my top five favorite comedies. It has become a signature movie in my life, a wonderful comedy loaded with memorable characters, hilarious gags, classic comedic set-pieces, and terrific dialogue that my friends and I never tire of quoting to each other. The movie was so great in fact that I seriously desired for a sequel to be made. That doesn’t usually happen much with comedies I love.

Action, science-fiction, and horror films easily lend themselves to being franchised, but franchising comedy is a much difficult prospect. But the principal cast and crew of Anchorman saw what a hilarious and special film they had made and sought for years to make a sequel, not out of the mercenary pursuit of greater wealth and exposure but out of the love they had for the characters and the world they created. It was just that the studio was adamant against making it for reasons that sound utterly ridiculous when you say them out loud. The project’s future seemed so questionable that the original film’s star was considering it dead in the water as recently as a few weeks again.

Then a funny thing happened just a few days ago….

Earlier this week, we brought you the news that comedy superstar Will Ferrell made a surprise appearance on the late night talk show Conan as the character Ron Burgundy, the egotistical news anchor with a heart of gold and a brain of vanilla pudding he played in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. His appearance was to wow the audience with a jazz flute jam and to make the special announcement that a deal had been worked out with Paramount Pictures for a sequel to the 2004 hit comedy to finally move forward.

Funny or Die, the website Ferrell co-created with friend and frequent collaborator (and co-writer and director of Anchorman) Adam McKay, has posted a video chronicling the moments before and after Ferrell’s Conan appearance. You can check it out here below.

It’s being reported that Kristen Wiig, the Saturday Night Live alum and star of the hit comedy Bridesmaids, is now in negotiations to join Ben Stiller in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

The movie, which is based on the 1939 James Thurber short story and a remake of the 1947 film of the same name that starred Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, and Boris Karloff, will also be directed by Stiller.

We’ve heard talks about plans to try offering big Hollywood movies on demand not too long after they’re released in theaters for a while now, and it looks like those who support the idea are ready to test the waters.

According to the LA Times, Universal Pictures will offer up Brett Ratner‘s new movie, Tower Heist, three weeks after its November 4, 2011 theatrical release through Universal parent company Comcast’s on demand services. The movie will only be available to 500,000 customers in the Atlanta and Portland, Oregon areas to test the waters of this new option, and those of you who have this option will only have to throw down $59.99 to check the movie out.

Universal and Comcast will pay close attention to how well the movie does released this early and at this price, while firm eyes will also be focused on how offering a movie three weeks after theatrical release affects box office numbers.

Not many people are all that excited about Little Fockers, the third title in the series that includes Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. Sure the movies are good lighthearted comedies you can watch with your family, and that’s likely to continue here as well, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a buzz surrounding the new installment.

One of the major reasons why people have not being excited about Little Fockers seems to be because every actor was coming back except one, and that one was Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman was a new addition to the second movie, but quickly became the most popular character with his strange, free-flowing hippy persona. If a third movie was going to be made his involvement would make it a lot easier to accept, but scheduling and financial complications seemed to doom that hope.

Thankfully some time has passed, and it has been revealed that thanks to some last-minute re-shoots and successful discussions, Dustin Hoffman will be filming a few scenes in the movie after all.