‘Anchorman’ Director: ‘Anchorman 2’ Is Dead

San Diego will have to stay classy without more Will Ferrell.

After reports that the star-studded cast of “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” had cut their pay rates to make way for a sequel, director Adam McKay has declared the film dead.

“So bummed. Paramount basically passed on Anchorman 2. Even after we cut our budget down. We tried,” he Tweeted on Thursday.

He added a few hours later that the project won’t be moving elsewhere.

“To all who asked: no we can’t do Anchorman 2 at another studio. Paramount owns it,” he Tweeted.

Earlier this week, McKay told MTV News that the cast — which also included Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, and Steve Carell – was back on board and that the sequel could start shooting in 2011 once a budget had been agreed to.

“Steve and Paul and everyone agreed to cut their price to come and do it, which you don’t see very often in Hollywood — and cut their price substantially,” McKay told MTV News. “But even with that, it’s just a budgetary thing with Paramount in terms of how much they’ll give us to make it.”

The 2004 original was the first film in the partnership between the director and funnyman Ferrell, which has gone on to produce further comedies including “Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” “Step Brothers,” and YouTube-style Web site FunnyorDie.com. The pair will collaborate next in the film “The Other Guys,” due in August.

While “Anchorman” earned $85 million during its theatrical release, the oddball comedy about a ‘70s newscaster became a cult classic on DVD.

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