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At long last, it seems like Broken Lizard is getting the gang back together for another round of cop-related shenanigans. That’s right! After much discussion in recent years, it seems that “Super Troopers 3” is coming together. While a formal announcement hasn’t been made, writer/director Jay Chandrasekhar has revealed that the project is in active discussions at Disney and appears to be close to getting approval. In short, unless something derails it, it’s happening.
During a recent appearance on the “Holmberg’s Morning Sickness” radio show, Chandrasekhar revealed that, despite Disney’s $71.3 billion purchase of Fox in 2019, “Super Troopers 3” is still very much alive. It was previously revealed during San Diego Comic-Con in 2018 that the sequel will be titled “Winter Soldiers,” and whether or not that’s still the case remains to be seen. But Chandrasekhar did provide a promising update on the status of the film:
“We’re in the final discussion with Disney about making Super Troopers 3.”
It might have seemed like a new “Super Troopers” movie would die an unceremonious death with the franchise being controlled by Disney. However, the Mouse House has embraced some R-rated fare, with the success of movies like “Deadpool & Wolverine” at the box office demonstrating that such adult-focused films can bring big profits.
Chandrasekhar joked that Disney now owns “most of California.” He also suggested that “Super Troopers” is a “cash cow” both for the studio and for his comedy troupe Broken Lizard. “If Law and Order can make 150 episodes, we can do three movies,” the filmmaker concluded.
Is it too late or too soon for Super Troopers 3?
The original “Super Troopers” was released in 2001 was a pretty big success in its day, relative to its low budget. The Broken Lizard gang, which also consists of Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske, went on to make other films such as “Club Dread,” “Beerfest,” and “The Slammin’ Salmon.” After years of fans asking for it, “Super Troopers 2,” which took the action to Canada, was released in 2018 following a successful crowdfunding campaign. Though not as successful as its predecessor, it still did reasonably well in theaters.
There was a full 17-year gap between the first and second movies. Comedy has struggled at the box office in recent years and audience taste for those films have changed as well. Is it too late for “Super Troopers 3” at this point? Or is it arguably too early? Should they wait another few years to build up more nostalgia?
It’s tough to say, but it’s worth noting that Broken Lizard made “Quasi” for Hulu last year, so there is a relationship with Disney-owned corporations. Might this be a good fit for a Hulu exclusive? In a 2022 interview with Collider, Chandrasekhar explained the troupe’s process, revealing that they tend to do a lot of drafts of the script before actually making the movie:
“We have written draft seven and so when we get to about draft twenty, we’ll start the machine up. […] I mean, we wrote thirty-two drafts of ‘Super Troopers 1’, and we wrote thirty drafts of ‘Super Troopers 2’. It’s just our process. […] We’ll throw out entire plot lines and reorganize everything and bring back plot lines. And it’s a process, but eventually, we get there.”
It seems “eventually” is much closer to now (or meow, if you will) in light of these most recent comments.
“Super Troopers 3” does not currently have a release date. In the meantime, you can grab the first two movies on Blu-ray/DVD via Amazon.