After first being introduced to the Wolf Pack in Todd Phillips' The Hangover back in 2009, audiences quickly fell in love with the goofy bunch of annoying troublemakers, for some reason, and wanted more.
Phillips and company obliged in 2011 with The Hangover Part II, which went on to become an even bigger hit, despite mostly negative reviews (aaand another point goes to my opinion that masses are easilysatis fied with intelligence-insulting crap).
While Hangover Part II was not a critical success, that didn't stop it from grossing nearly $600 million worldwide, bringing the total sum for the franchise to over $1 billion.
Now, after being hungover twice already, the boys are back in The Hangover Part III and it looks like they still haven't learned their lesson (gee, why would that be?). Namely, Warner Bros. announced that the shooting of the final installment in the R-rated comedy franchise has begun and have also revealed the official plot synopsis for Part III. Here it is:
This time, there's no wedding. No bachelor party. What could go wrong, right? But when the Wolfpack hits the road, all bets are off.
This brief? Ah well. Synopsis suggests, it seems, that the guys may be on some kind of road trip, which isn't that surprising when you have in mind that Phillips wrote and directed the hit film Road Trip (2000). It also seems to be a bit of a change-up from the first two films, both of which were written around a single locale (Las Vegas in The Hangover, Thailand in The Hangover Part II).
As we reported last year, the plot may also involve the boys breaking Galifiankis' character, Alan, out of a mental institution (no no, you don't need to do that! Leave him there, he'll be just fine).
(Tiny) Plot differences aside, the fact that 'round three' will have an almost identical cast and production crew as its predecessors shows that Phillips and Warner Bros. didn't want to mess too much with something that worked previously. And why would anyone in Hollywood take a risk and do something that doesn't fit the ‘template of success'?
What worked with the first two and what audiences initially fell in love with was the cast, I'd say. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha will return in their roles as Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug, respectively, while Ken Jeong, Heather Graham and Jeffrey Tambor will return to round up the familiar supporting cast. One notable addition is John Goodman as the Wolf Pack's antagonist.
Still, it's worth noting that the complaints that people had for Part II – that it looks far too alike as its original – seem to have been taken into account for the development of the third one. There's no more wedding, no more bachelor party, and no more single location. Whether or not that's good news, I leave you to be the judge of it.
The Hangover Part III is set to hit the theaters on May 24th, 2013.
Oh and here's a surprise treat – a poster, heheh. Enjoy:
