This weekend, Steve Coogan‘s beloved character Alan Partridge—a phenomenon in the UK will make his big screen debut on US shores in, you guessed it, “Alan Partridge” (abroad, the movie is titled “Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa“). And Coogan isn’t terribly convinced it’ll be hit a here.
“It’s not part of my plan to have Alan conquer America. If it’s just a cool movie that cool people like, that’s O.K. with me. It’s not part of my plan to have Alan Partridge be a huge success. I don’t think it will be, to be honest,” he told Vanity Fair last fall. “I’m happy with the movie. We managed to satisfy the die-hard fans, and it works for younger audiences who didn’t know the characters. I’m really happy with it, but I don’t think Middle America will see the movie.”
Whether or not Middle America shows up doesn’t matter, because the film (released last summer in the UK) has done enough business to prompt not only a sequel, but a new TV series on UK network Sky. “We are planning a sequel [to ‘Alpha Papa’], yes, that will be great,” Henry Normal of Baby Cow productions told The Guardian. “We are also looking at doing more ‘Mid Morning Matters‘ and another Sky special, a little bit like [documentary series] ‘Coast‘ with Alan Partridge, except I don’t think he goes out of Norfolk.”
It’s even more from the character that has already spawned three TV series, radio appearances, web shows and more, but if you think Coogan is getting tired of it, guess again.
“I’ve put him away for a few years, but I’ve never felt an urge to declare it’s the end. It’s like a band, isn’t it? No-one bothers asking The Rolling Stones anymore if they’re going to break up,” he told Empire. “As long as I’m doing other things, I’m quite happy to dip in and out of Alan’s world.”
