David Spade Got Pitched ‘Tommy Boy’ Sequel Two Years Ago and Rejected It: ‘I Can’t Imagine It’ Without Chris Farley. ‘It Would Be Too Much of a Sell Out’

David Spade recently appeared on Theo Von’s podcast and revealed he was pitched an idea to make a sequel to “Tommy Boy,” his 1995 buddy comedy with the late Chris Farley. Spade shut the pitch down immediately considering there is no “Tommy Boy” without Farley. The two actors were close friends and were “SNL” co-stars for five years before headlining “Tommy Boy” together. Farley died of a drug overdose in 1997 at 33 years old.

“I was pitched a ‘Tommy Boy 2,’ which was our characters’ kids are together,” Spade said. “I was pitched this two years ago, and I was like I can’t find a scenario with no Chris Farley. He was the whole movie. It would be too much of a sell out. I can’t imagine it. No one could do that. It was our kids and it was about them and I was going to help them on the road. Listen, it was about Chris. If we did another one back then it would’ve been a blast.”

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“Tommy Boy” starred Farley as the immature son of an auto tycoon. When his father dies, Farley’s character teams up with Spade’s accountant to try and save the family business. Although the film was not a box office hit (it grossed only $32 million worldwide), it became a cult classic thanks to its home video release. Spade and Farley quickly reunited a year later for the movie “Black Sheep.” Spade told Esquire magazine in 2022 that the two actors were considering a third movie before Farley’s death.

“Two years after ‘Tommy Boy’ came out, they told us it made $100 million on video. We couldn’t believe it,” Spade said at the time. “It really grew over time. We talked about doing another one, but Farley wanted to do more drama, so I said, ‘Go do that.’ I ran into him two months before [he died] and he was like, ‘Everyone always talks about ‘Tommy Boy’ and ‘Black Sheep.’ It’s not as much fun out there. Let’s try to get one going again.’ … I think about Farley every day. I have his old coat from ‘Tommy Boy.’”

“He liked me being smart and him being dumb,” Spade added of the duo’s comedic personas. “Farley and I were always goofing around. He always wanted me to make fun of him, because he thought it was so hilarious. We played off that. He was big. But the truth is, when you look back, he wasn’t that overweight. He was big, but he really ballooned toward the end. He always said he was the fat guy, but he wasn’t super fat.”

Watch Spade’s interview with Theo Von in the video below.

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