Sometimes, there’s a man—well, he’s the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that’s Jeff Bridges as the Dude in The Big Lebowski, which Bridges himself thought was about to get a sequel, 17 years after the original film. Well, until his agent informed him that the news was actually a hoax.
Bridges apparently got excited about rumors circulating from a false story published on The National Report, a “satire” site whose idea of satire is simply posting incorrect information. The story claimed that The Big Lebowski 2 would team the Dude up with a long-lost brother, played by Bill Murray, on a search for the child he conceived in coitus with Maude Lebowksi. It also included a quote that Ethan Coen would never say: “We’re thrilled to be coming back to film a second part to this classic movie.” The fake film was supposed to start shooting in January.
Although Bridges undoubtedly understands how the Coens operate, he told WENN, “I don’t think they would do that, the Coen brothers, but they’re always surprising us. So maybe they would, you never know.” Unfortunately for the legions of fans who would love to see the Dude back in action, a sequel just wasn’t meant to be. Fortunately for those same fans, Bridges is still doing all kinds of weird zen stuff. Nothing is fucked here, Dude.