Here's Will Ferrell's Idea For The "Step Brothers" Sequel We Deserved

Sequels to classic movies can be iffy.

Look at Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues from 2013… It didn’t really add anything to the original Anchorman. Same with Zoolander 2 (2016), Dumb and Dumber To (2014), Caddyshack II (1988), the list goes on.

BUT…

Will Ferrell had an idea for Step Brothers that he pitched, which sounded like it could have actually added to the story of Dale Doback (John C. Reilly) and Brennan Huff (Ferrell).

In a 2018 interview with Daily News, Ferrell said he once pitched a Step Brothers 2 idea that would’ve sent Brennan and Dale to a retirement community. Not to visit, though. But to “retire”… With their parents.

Tell me that doesn’t sound like instant Catalina Wine Mixer-level plot.

The setup was simple: Nancy (Mary Steenburgen) and Robert (Richard Jenkins), older and ready for a calmer life, move into a 55+ community. Brennan and Dale—now barely-functioning adults after the first film—decide they’ve “earned” retirement, too, and follow them in. Think talent show energy, but with early-bird specials, HOA meetings, and a community pool full of inflatable samurai swords. That was Ferrell’s core pitch years back, and it’s been floating around the internet like a treasured deleted scene ever since.

Why it works: Step Brothers wasn’t really about “growing up.” It was about two overgrown kids breaking the world around them until the world finally gave up. A retirement home is the funniest possible sandbox for that Reilly and Ferrell energy.

There’s also a stealth genius to making the sequel about “reverting.” The first movie ends with the guys kinda-sorta stepping into adulthood. The sequel yanks them right back into fantasy land, but this time with permission.

Ferrell discussed the idea years ago, and multiple outlets picked it up…then nothing happened.

Sequel talks for Step Brothers have come and gone a few times, but this specific retirement-home pitch has lived rent-free in fans’ heads because it nails what made the original so quotable: high-stakes stupidity in extremely specific environments.

Could it still happen? Never say never, but Ferrell and Adam McKay split in 2019 as collaborators due to overall “creative differences.” And even if somebody dusted off the concept tomorrow, you’d have to recapture that oddly sweet tone underneath the wreckage.

Until then, we’ll always have the perfect mental image: Brennan and Dale in matching robe-and-ascot combos, crashing bingo night with a PowerPoint titled “Boats ’N Hoes: Endowment Strategy.” Prestige Worldwide, but with a senior discount.

Ah, what could have been.