The animated sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa doesn't open until Nov. 7, but the stars and filmmakers are already talking about a third installment, and the cast brainstormed possible locations on Oct. 25 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
"Antarctica maybe, where the penguins live," star Ben Stiller suggested in a group interview. "It's all about the penguins."
In a separate interview, David Schwimmer suggested another warm continent. "I'd love to see them maybe go to India," Schwimmer told a group of reporters. "I think that would be interesting."
Jada Pinkett Smith concurred. "I agree with David," Pinkett Smith said. "We've been talking about that a couple times today. India would be a really cool place to do a Madagascar 3. There's talk about it. I don't know if it's going to happen, but I'd be down for the ride. I love India. I just think it's a beautiful place. I'd be really interested in knowing what animals are there also in the wildlife of India."
Co-director Tom McGrath confirmed that he and Eric Darnell have a story in mind, but the location is still negotiable. "The way we're thinking too is, like, where would we want to go, because we usually do a field trip," McGrath said in a separate group interview. "So Tahiti is on the back of our minds."
This story continues below the image.
Ben Stiller (from left), Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer at the Oct. 26 world premiere of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. (Alex Berliner for DreamWorks)
Chris Rock voted nay for Tahiti, concurring with Stiller on Antarctica. "I went to Tahiti," Rock said in a group interview. "It wasn't that good. I think we're going to have to help the penguins out."
Producer Mireille Soria suggested less of an exotic locale and more of a logical end to the adventure. "I kind of feel like I'd love to see them get home," she said in a group interview.
Since home for these escaped zoo animals would place them back into captivity, Pinkett Smith voted against that idea. "No, you can't end it that way," she said. "I feel like we've seen our characters learn so much being free. Really, as human beings, if you think about it, the more freedom we give ourselves, the more we learn and the more spiritually free we are. So I think we would have to end off our characters somewhere where they just decided, OK, this is where our home's going to be, but not in a cage in a zoo somewhere. Maybe it will end up in India."
-Fred Topel
