The reason there’s a sequel to this film is obvious: a $532 million box office take worldwide. The sequel is called Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which confirms the demographic they’re shooting for is anyone who thinks having the numeral 2 in the title like that is clever.
Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer and Andy Richter all return. New to the cast are: Bernie Mac as Ben Stiller’s dad, Mufasa; Sherri Shepherd from The View as Ben Stiller’s mom, Sarabi; Alec Baldwin as Scar, a challenger to Bernic Mac’s throne. Hmm. I might have mixed up the names.
[ad#longpost]Will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas as Moto Moto, described as “a watering hole lothario,” although a Motorola spokesman might have been a good choice too. A water hole secret agent would have been an even more point-worthy choice. And I’m sure in an early draft he was a sloth named Slothario. These are all free ideas and probably jokes that were (hopefully) wisely cut from the finished screenplay.
So this is Flight of the Phoenix meets The Lion King? Anyway, by “highly-anticipated sequel,” they mean highly anticipated…by DreamWorks. And with a half-billion dollar incoming franchise on their hands, you’d be a little giddy too, methinks. How long before it follows Shrek to Broadway? Any takers on a bet?
