As Bradley Cooper’s Phil told one student in The Hangover, “I don’t know you. You do not exist.” And most certainly for the better, The Hangover 4 probably won’t, either. But if Cooper got his way, he would sign on in a heartbeat.
Speaking with The New Yorker Radio Hour (via People), Bradley Cooper said he would get the gang back together for a fourth Hangover movie just to work with his director and co-stars once more. “I would probably do Hangover 4 in an instant…Just because I love Todd [Phillips], I love Zach [Galifianakis], I love Ed [Helms] so much, I probably would.” Still, Cooper did acknowledge that Phillips may not be game, saying, “I don’t think Todd is ever going to do that.” After all, Phillips has crossed over since taking The Joker to a new level with 2019’s film and its upcoming sequel. That Cooper – who will be looking at his own Oscar attention with his latest, Maestro – would still hit the road for another Hangover outing does show his faithfulness to the movie that helped him break out as a major Hollywood star.
While the first Hangover was a cultural phenomenon and still stands as one of the highest-grossing R-rated comedies ever (as does the first sequel), the series saw an undeniable dip in quality since the first one was released in 2009, with its sequels being released every other year after. While it would be nice to think that The Hangover 4 could redeem itself now that the series has had a decade to cool, the binge the studio forced on audiences was probably enough to make us quit the series cold turkey.
Outside of The Hangover trilogy and the please-don’t-greenlight Hangover 4, Bradley Cooper and Todd Phillips have kept a close – and rather successful – working relationship, as Phillips produced Cooper’s directorial debut A Star Is Born and Cooper earned an Oscar nomination as producer of Phillips’ Joker.
Would you be down for The Hangover 4 or has the series exhausted itself? If so, where would you want to see Phil, Stu and Alan head off to next? Let us know!