When director Adam McKay promised us several full-blown musical numbers in Anchorman: The Legend Continues, he also expressed his love for cameos and his intent to drop as many famous faces as he could find into the comedy sequel, saying, "We’re talking about ... creating a murderer’s row of the best day players ever. Like having every single one line or three line role, be someone we just love.”

It's a sound idea in concept. After all, hiring an A or B-list actor to come into the studio for a day and shoot half a page of script is much easier than getting them to commit to weeks of filming, and there's something inherently amusing about having bit-parts played by such familiar faces. Presumably McKay is making an effort to keep his 'murderer's row' secret for the sake of better surprise reveals, but we've already had confirmation that Harrison Ford will be making an appearance as "a legendary newscaster á la Tom Brokaw," and Terence Stamp has been approached for the role of a Rupert Murdoch-based media mogul.

Now Deadline has reported two more cast members who are joining the long-awaited sequel, which has already begun filming and is set for a release at the end of the year. Josh Lawson, who recently appeared with Anchorman lead Will Ferrell in The Campaign, has signed up alongside Greg Kinnear, who will be reunited with his Little Miss Sunshine co-star Steve Carell.

Both additions are interesting. Kinnear is better known for straight roles but has demonstrated solid comic talent in films such as Ghost Town and the Farrelly brothers' Stuck on You. Lawson is an Australian actor best known for the role of Doug Guggenheim in Showtime's House of Lies. No word yet on how large a role they will play in the Anchorman sequel - they may just show up to play rival newscasters in another epic and bloody battle.

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The teaser trailer, which also featured returning stars David Koechner and Paul Rudd, has helped build up a lot of hype around Anchorman: The Legend Continues. Ron Burgundy advised that we "get ready to ride the palomino stallion". Champ Kind revealed that the Channel Four news team will now be "broadcasting from a hot tub full of scotch". And Brick Tamland assured us that, "it's cream in your jeans."

That's a tall order of promises to live up to, even if The Legend Continues didn't already have the pressure of being a sequel to one of the most frequently quoted comedies of all time.

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Anchorman: The Legend Continues is out in theaters on December 20th, 2013.

Source: Deadline