Danny McBride says he’s fully on board with the long-awaited Pineapple Express sequel… if it ever gets the green light.
The writer/comedian addressed the subject during a recent installment of GQ’s Most Iconic Characters series, in which he reflected on his most memorable on-screen roles. Around the 13:37 minute mark, McBride spoke about his portrayal of Red, the drug-supplying tritagonist of the buddy stoner action-comedy. The actor described the experience as a “blast” and said he wouldn’t hesitate to reprise his role if he got the call for Part 2.
“I would go back into that in a heartbeat but I don’t know,” he said, “feels like maybe the time has passed. We’ll see.”
Pineapple Express hit theaters in 2008 and has since become a cult classic. The film centers on a trio of oddball friends who go on the lam after witnessing a drug lord commit murder. They embark on a weed-fueled, action-packed odyssey of wild fight scenes, ridiculous car chases, and self-discovery, which ultimately tightened their bond.
James Franco and Seth Rogen lead the David Gordon Green-directed film as pot dealer Saul Silver and his customer-turned-BFF, Dale Denton. Rogen wrote the screenplay alongside his childhood/frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg.
“Seth sat a lot with me during that time and we would just chat and talk about life. It was a lot of fun… ” McBride told GQ before recalling the film’s legendary brawl scene. “We were going for it and so everyone got injured. I think Seth broke his hand or his finger or something. Franco had split his forehead open; that’s why he has that bandana for most of the movie — sweatband — is because he had actually split his forehead open and he had a big scar there.
“And not to be left out, when I get hit with a bong in the back of the head, that definitely split open my skull and I had a concussion and filmed for the rest of the day.”
About 12 years after the Pineapple Express release, Rogen confirmed he had pitched a sequel to Sony but the studio simply wasn’t interested.
“We tired to make one,” Rogen said during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, per Deadline. “Thanks to the Sony hack, you can actually find the email when Sony decided to kill the movie and not make it. It was something we were very open to several years ago, but Sony was not that interested in it.”
Pineapple Express had a reported budget of $25-26 million and grossed more than $100 million at the box office, leading some to wonder why Sony didn’t jump at the chance to potentially strike gold again. Rogen said it likely came down to financing.
“I think we probably wanted too much money,” Rogen continued, adding he and the team had requested a budget of around $50 million. “Studios, they don’t like giving away money. Weird thing.”
