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Great news for Zoolander fans – Will Ferrell has confirmed he will reprise his role as the villainous fashion designer and piano-key necktie inventor Mugatu in a sequel to the 2001 comedy.



Plans for another outing for the Ben Stiller-helmed comedy about the dim-witted, really, really, ridiculously good-looking model Derek Zoolander, have been mooted for years, but it looks like it could finally be happening.





Ferrell told joblo.com work was being done. "We are actually supposed to do a read-through of a sequel script soon, and Mugatu is a part of it."





This follows news that actor-writer-director Justin Theroux, who appeared in the original, said last month progress was being made in bringing Zoolander back to the big screen. "We've got a script for the sequel, and we've just been in talks again," he told Vulture.com. "We're trying to sharpen it and hone it and, actually, I don't want to jinx anything, but it looks like it actually might be starting to get up and running."



Theroux said he had been in the running to direct but due to scheduling commitments was having to bow out, leaving the likelihood that Stiller will take up the director's reins again.



Stiller, who developed Zoolander from a VH1 fashion awards skit, has said the sequel could see an ageing Derek and Hansel (Owen Wilson) struggling to stay relevant in the fashion world.



The film centered around Derek and Hansel, aided by "investigatory journalist" Matilda (Christine Taylor), attempting to thwart a plot by Mugatu to kill the Malaysian prime minister.



Zoolander took $US61 million at the global box office and has remained a strong cult favourite. Progress in making a sequel could be buoyed by last year's success of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which appeared 10 years after the original and made $US175 million worldwide.