Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues longer cut to be released in cinemas for one week

A longer cut of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is to be released in US and UK cinemas for a single week.

The more stringently-rated version will “feature up to 763 entirely new jokes”.

Director Adam McKay joked: “If you’re a hardcore Anchorman fan, go see this. If you’re not, stay very far away.”

The sequel to the cult 2004 film, starring Will Ferrell as 1970s news anchor Ron Burgundy, has taken $169 million worldwide.

It will return to cinemas for seven days from February 28 and will be rated 15 in the UK and R (restricted) in the US.

The restricted rating means that viewers under the age of 17 are not admitted unless they are accompanied by an adult.

Anchorman 2, which sees Will Ferrell reunite with the original cast including Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate and Steve Carell, received largely favorable reviews on its release as a PG-13 film in December.

Speaking on the Tonight Show, Will Ferrell said: “Originally the movie was four hours long, and they played around with the idea of splitting it into two movies.

“It’s the same movie, it’s 20 minutes longer, there’s a musical number we had to cut from the original one, little treats like that.”

A film being released as a longer cut is not wholly unusual, though it is often limited to home sales coming under the guise of a “director’s cut”.

Recent examples include the film sequel Riddick, starring Vin Diesel, Ridley Scott’s The Counselor, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and cult film Iron Sky.