Warner Bros. Considering Making a Sequel to 'Casablanca' Because Nothing is Sacred

"They're tarnishing our legacy, Rick"
 "We'll always have 1943, kid"

If there is one movie that Warner Bros. prizes and loves above all others in their catalog, it's "Casablanca." The classic movie that even people who don't like classic movies adore, it has become an American cinematic institution, and a film that WB has re-re-re-re-released countless times on home video over the years. The film endures as one of the all time greats, so of course, that means sequels and followups have been tossed around for years.

After winning Best Picture in 1943, the studio got a sequel going titled "Brazzaville," following Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine as an agent of the secret police, but it never got past the treatment by Frederic Stephani. Rick reappeared on the short lived TV series "Warner Bros. Presents" played by Charles McGraw, and then there was "Passage To Marseilles" which brought together Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Claude Rains for another exotic wartime story, but it paled in comparison to their work on "Casablanca" (itself a picture that became a classic by fluke, initially viewed by the studio has just another product in the pipeline). But never say never.

The New York Post (via The Film Stage) reveals that within the last 18 months, Warner Bros. has passed, but kept the door open for a followup titled -- wait for it -- "Return To Casablanca." Penned by the film's original, and subsequently blacklisted writer Howard Koch in the 1980s, the story follows Rick and Ilsa's son Richard in 1961. Here's a synopsis (of sorts):

I've Just Been Handed This Urgent Bulletin...

... a sequel to the 2004 comedy Anchorman is officially in the works, it's kind of a big deal. Will Ferrell stopped by Conan O'Brien's show the other night to make the announcement as Ron Burgundy himself. Because the film has just been announced, there is no word yet on plot details, but the entire original Channel 4 News Team (except for Christina Applegate, presumably unreachable at her home on whore island) is signed on to resume their roles as the number one news broadcast in the San Diego area. It will be interesting to see where they go with this movie, considering the way the original movie ends. I would expect to see Ron Burgundy experience a fall from grace and he ends up losing his job as a network anchor, but that is awfully similar to the plot of the first movie so I also wouldn't be surprised if something completely different happens. Either way, the plot will clearly involve someway to reunite Burgundy with the rest of the news team he left behind when he became a network anchor. I'm really excited about this announcement because the original Anchorman was one of the funniest movies of the past decade and while this sequel certainly has some very high expectations, I think it is safe in the hands of Ferrell, McKay and Apatow. 

Video of Ferrel's announcement on Conan after the jump.