Never underestimate the power of a well-constructed ensemble cast. When it comes to contemporary comedy cinema, finding the perfect group of players can make or break a movie; the actors either get to play off each other’s strengths and take the film to hilarious heights, or flounder in lacklustre on-screen chemistry.
Luckily for Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis, in Horrible Bosses 2, things lean towards the former.
I was lucky enough to participate in a conference call with the talented stars. “As actors,” says Day, “it was really fun for the three of us to get back together again because we enjoy each other’s company and we had this great time in the first one. As characters,” he adds with a chuckle, “it’s a terrible thing for the three of [us] to get back together again, because [we] keep getting [ourselves] into some serious trouble.”
Released in 2011, Horrible Bosses received high praise, earning three-and-a-half stars out of four from Roger Ebert, of all people. The film was a box office smash, grossing nearly $210 million in international ticket sales. “[Horrible Bosses] did really well overseas,” explains Bateman, “which is not terribly common for a comedy. So Warner Brothers wanted to do another one, and we were certainly open to it because we had such a good time doing the first one.”
Once things coalesced “creatively,” adds Day, and the three friends had found a story that worked, going ahead with the sequel simply “made sense.” And Bateman is feeling confident — nay, “bullish” — about the outcome.
“I’m pretty fair about being objective, and, you know, I really enjoyed the first just as a viewer and I watched this one with that same perspective and I genuinely liked it even more than the first. So I’m actually feeling kind of bullish. If people see it the way I see it, they’re going to be very happy with this one. So, I’m feeling good,” he says.
Pushing Horrible Bosses 2 towards exceeding the hysterical heights of its predecessor is Sean Anders, who was brought in to warm up the director’s chair after Seth Gordon dropped out of the project last August.
“[Working with Sean Anders] was great,” says Sudeikis, adding, “Him and his writing partner, John Morris, are like two of the best scriptwriters, comic writers in, you know, Hollywood right now.”
“I think they did a great job with the re-writing [of Horrible Bosses 2],” says Sudeikis in his unmistakably playful Virginian drawl. “When it makes sense with the film to get a little more stylized,” chimes in Day, “[Anders] put a little more style into it, and it fits the story. So I think he did a really good job that way.”
Specifically, adds Sudeikis, “There’s a whole chunk in that looks like we’re starring in a [Soderbergh] film. And there are visual elements to it that feel like a Fincher movie. It’s like something right of Fight Club.”
But of course, the real magic comes from the ensemble itself. Horrible Bosses 2 has more star-power than you can shake a stick at, and one of the finest supporting casts in recent cinematic memory, including Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Jonathan Banks, and Keegan-Michael Key.
“It’s pretty cool when you can class up [this big silly commercial studio comedy] with some Oscar winners; it becomes a really nice balanced cocktail,” Bateman says of the cast.
“Especially for a sequel,” concludes Day. “A sequel can lack the prestige of the first movie, and to get actors and actresses of that calibre joining the movie is great.”
Horrible Bosses 2 hits theatres November 26.
