Jeff Bridges has shared his enthusiasm for the idea of creating a sequel to The Big Lebowski many years after the initial movie was released. He mentioned that his co-star Julianne Moore also entertains the idea of making a follow-up to the film.
The crime comedy, written, directed, and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, was released in cinemas in 1998.
Although The Big Lebowski did not earn considerable revenue globally upon its release, making $46.7 million with a budget of $15 million, it soon gained a dedicated following for its quirky characters, humorous fantasy sequences, unique dialogue, and diverse soundtrack.
And now – almost three decades later – Jeff, 75, has admitted that he’d ‘absolutely’ be down should a sequel ever get the greenlight.
During an event called The Big Lebowski Screening: An Evening with The Dude at The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California, Jeff Bridges expressed his definite interest in working on a new movie related to the original film.
‘Julianne and I would fantasize about that,’ he continued.
‘We did another movie together, Seventh Son, she played a witch in that movie. And we would often say, “Gee it’s all set up for a sequel.”
‘But no, I don’t think the brothers are going to do that. I don’t think that’s their style. But I must say, they surprise us all the time.
‘Who would have thought Macbeth would have come out of one of those guys? You never know what they’re going to do so who knows.
‘If they called me up and said, “Hey let’s do it again,” I’d say, “Absolutely, come on.”‘
The Big Lebowski focuses on Jeff as The Dude, a Los Angeles slacker with a passion for bowling, caught in the middle of a mistaken identity crime caper.
The cast also included John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, John Turturro and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, David Thewlis, Peter Stormare, Jon Polito, and Ben Gazzara.
In January 2023, Jeff and John reunited at the Critics’ Choice Awards, where John presented Jeff with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
John delivered a heartfelt speech about his longtime friend and revealed how all of the ‘camaraderie and friendship’ they felt behind-the-scenes translated to the screen, gushing that it was ‘all because of Jeff.’
‘He was so committed and would deliver his hilarious ‘Dude-isms’ so effortlessly that no one ever knew where Jeff ended and the dude began,’ John said.
He went on to say that his co-star ‘continues to play such a wide range of characters and tends to lose himself in all of them.’
‘Thank you, John! Thank you, critics. The Dude, from Lebowski, he would say, this is just like your opinion, man,’ Jeff joked while accepting the award.
Academy Award-winning actor Jeff previously called The Big Lebowski ‘one of my favorite movies I’ve ever been involved in.’
It’s a sentiment echoed years earlier by John, who told Rolling Stone that playing The Dude’s high-strung pal Walter Sobchak was one of his all-time greatest roles, as well.
