Hot Tub Time Machine is a 2010 comedy film about three middle-aged friends (and one friend’s nephew) who (through intentionally barely explained circumstances) travel back in time to relive their glory days in the 1980s. The film was notable for not only poking fun at that Reagan-led, Hair Metal-filled, pastel color-dominated decade but many of the tropes of its most iconic films – William Zabka (the bully in The Karate Kid and Back to School) even appears in a small role. The upcoming sequel though is taking a different approach.
In Hot Tub Time Machine 2, the friends (now two, plus the nephew) travel to the future in order to prevent the murder of one of them (yes, Terminator jokes do follow). You could see this new time period as a bad thing – after all, the 80’s jokes and references were what helped give Hot Tub Time Machine its identity – or as a good thing – this way, the second movie likely won’t fall into the mire of rehashing the jokes of the first; a problem for many comedy sequels.
Rob Corddry (Childrens Hospital, Sex Tape), Craig Robinson (The Office, This Is the End), and Clark Duke (Two and a Half Men, Kick-Ass 2) reprise their roles from the first film. Notably absent is John Cusack, the (arguable) main character of the first film. New cast members include Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation), Jason Jones (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) and Gillian Jacobs (Community).
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is set for release this Christmas.
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