Zoolander is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller.
The film follows Derek Zoolander, a dim-witted but good-natured male model who is brainwashed by the evil fashion designer Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferrell) to assassinate the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Zoolander also stars Owen Wilson as Hansel, a rival model, and Christine Taylor as Matilda Jeffries, a journalist investigating the assassination plot.
The film is a satire on the fashion industry and contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the VH1 Fashion Awards television specials in 1996 and 1997. Despite a moderate opening weekend, Zoolander went on to become a cult classic, earning $60.8 million worldwide against a budget of $28 million.
The film features numerous celebrity cameos, including David Duchovny, Jon Voight, Milla Jovovich, Winona Ryder, and several real-life fashion icons. Zoolander was praised for its production design, costumes, and pop music soundtrack, though some critics felt it lacked confident visual stylization. A sequel, Zoolander 2, was released in 2016, and an animated film, Zoolander: Super Model, was released on Netflix UK in 2016