Bradley Cooper Returns as Leader of the Pack in "The Hangover Part II"

Bradley Cooper (“Limitless,” “The A-Team”) reunites with director Todd Phillips and the cast of 2009’s Golden Globe-winning smash hit “The Hangover” in Warner Bros.’ eagerly awaited sequel, “The Hangover Part II.”

In the film, Phil (Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) travel to exotic Thailand for Stu’s wedding. With the memory of Doug’s nearly disastrous bachelor party in Las Vegas still fresh—or at least well-documented—Stu is taking no chances. He has opted for a safe, subdued, pre-wedding trip brunch, with pancakes, coffee…and no alcohol. However, things don’t always go as planned.

Two nights before the big day, at a fabulous resort in Thailand, Stu relents. One beer each. In sealed bottles. What could go wrong?

“We knew we had to adhere to certain tenets of the first movie,” says Cooper, reprising the role of Phil, the de facto leader of the group. “We wanted aspects we loved from the first film to be in this one, but in a fresh, totally new context. Todd’s idea to set it in Bangkok upped the ante completely. We had a huge car chase, motorcycles, riots, shootings… There’s a lot of action in this movie.”

For the director, Cooper’s Phil is “the most grounded of the guys, which isn’t saying much,” Todd Phillips laughs. “He’s the most level-headed, which enables the other guys to go off the rails.”

Phil is, to say the least, disappointed in Stu’s “bachelor brunch” idea. “Phil is just a big talker,” allows Cooper. “He actually has quite a nice life at home, but he’s this alpha male who probably got married right out of high school and still wants to live those rare moments of cutting loose with his male friends.”

In Thailand, Phil hasn’t given up on some form of a bachelor party and proposes they have one nightcap before Stu ties the knot. Cooper expounds, “Phil wants to mark the occasion in some way and talks Stu into having at least one drink on the beach.”

And that is the last memory they have until they wake up the next morning.

The dynamic between Phil and the quirky Alan, played by Zach Galifianakis, that evolved in the first film is further explored in this one. “I think that’s my favorite part about this movie, because their relationship becomes really rich,” says Cooper. “In the first one, Zach and I improvised a lot of that, not always knowing if it would even play. But in this one, it’s built in already and we can take it even further. It’s like making a movie with your brothers. No one has to think too hard about the process; you just go with it. Our only real objective is that people will laugh their asses off.”

Opening across the Philippines on June 8, “The Hangover Part II” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.