I have been saying this for days. Ever since a teaser dropped for a new Danny McBride movie, Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home. Yes, that’s right. Danny McBride has a new movie, and it’s a secret Crocodile Dundee sequel—quad-quel, really—that no one knew about. Or, that’s what this video would like you to believe:
There’s a hashtag and a movie site, and an IMDB page. There’s an estimated budget ($30 million) and a release date (June 1). It looks legit? And Danny McBride is both odd enough and not-quite-famous enough for it seem plausible that he could successfully pull off both making a secret movie, and not revealing it until the promotion is ready to launch. And we’re approaching the Super Bowl, so movie folks are on alert, expecting a slew of teasers and new trailers. It’s surprising, but not impossible. Right?
Well. We are approaching the Super Bowl. And with the release of a second teaser, this one featuring Chris Hemsworth, it really started looking stunt-y. I read through that IMDB page, and while there is a release date, there is no distributor. You can have a distributor and no release date, but it doesn’t really work the other way around. So I call bullsh*t. There is no Dundee movie, there’s just an elaborate scheme. A prank? Maybe, but more likely it’s a Super Bowl ad. McBride has done ads for K Swiss and Mountain Dew, so it’s not unimaginable. Dundee is probably going to turn out to be an ad for Yellow Tail or Foster’s or Outback Steakhouse, or, and this is my bet, a tourism ad for Australia. (Chris Hemsworth represents Aussie tourism.)
Assuming it’s an ad, it’s a very expensive one. Besides the multi-million dollar TV spot and the millions spent on extra-high-value productions for Super Bowl ads, this is now racking up costs for the ads for the ad. This must be an expensive campaign. And if it IS a tourism ad for Australia, it’s a huge waste of money because all they need to do is flash a card saying, Australia: Like America but with less guns and Trumps. If you must have Chris Hemsworth in it, just play that Insta video of him riding a kids’ four-wheeler and then scrawl Australia across the screen. Flights will sell out overnight.
These mysterious Dundee teasers are good for one thing, though. While not igniting a desire to revive the Crocodile Dundee brand, it is really making me want to see a Danny McBride/Chris Hemsworth road comedy. So maybe, when all this stunting is over, they can make a movie together? For real this time.
Attached - Chris out in New York a few days ago with wife Elsa Pataky.
