Anchorman wasn’t Will Ferrell‘s first feature film, but it was one of the movies that marked his transition from Saturday Night Live star to the big screen. However, Ferrell and his collaborator/director, Adam McKay had a very difficult time getting Anchorman made. And the film that ended up in theaters was pretty far from their original vision.

While making an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast (via The Ringer) Ferrell shared the initial plot that he and McKay used to introduce Ron Burgundy and his friends. “The first version of Anchorman is basically the movie Alive, where the year is 1976, and we are flying to Philadelphia, and all the newsmen from around the country are flying in to have some big convention. Ron convinces the pilot that he knows how to fly the charter jet, and he immediately crash-lands it in the mountains. And it’s just the story of them surviving and trying to get off the mountainside.”

That sounds amazing. Now that we know what kind of story that Ron Burgundy was created for, it’s difficult to picture him in anything else. And that wasn’t even the craziest part of the first script. “They clipped a cargo plane, and the cargo plane crashed as well, close to them, and it was carrying only boxes of orangutans and Chinese throwing stars,” continued Ferrell. “So throughout the movie we’re being stalked by orangutans who are killing, one by one, the team off with throwing stars. And Veronica Corningstone keeps saying things like, ‘Guys, I know if we just head down we’ll hit civilization.’ And we keep telling her, ‘Wrong.’ She doesn’t know what we’re talking about. So that was the first version of the movie.”

Okay, now we really want to see this version of the movie. There hasn’t been any word on Anchorman 3 in a long time, but this story could be reconfigured for a sequel. Or perhaps this could retain the original ’70s setting by rebooting the Anchorman films with all of the same cast members fighting the throwing star orangutans. We’re down for that! Or maybe Paramount can team with Fox to make it War for the Mountain of the Ninja Apes?

What do you think about Ferrell and McKay’s original vision for Anchorman? Toss us a star and share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures