Will Ferrellsays he turned down a sequel toElfand a promised $29 million paycheck.
Ferrell says he turned down the sequel due to it having a similar premise as the original movie.
“I would have had to promote the movie from an honest place, which would’ve been, like, ‘Oh no, it’s not good. I just couldn’t turn down that much money,'” Ferrell toldTHR. “And I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.'”
Elfwas a box office hit grossing $223 million worldwide and becoming an instant Christmas classic. According toTHR, he would have been paid $29 million for taking part in the sequel.
In September 2020, James Caan, who played Buddy’s father, Walter Hobbs, told the radio showThe Fan in Clevelandthat a sequel was never made due to an alleged disagreement between Ferrell and Favreau.
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“We were gonna do it,” Caan said of the sequel, “and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I finally have a franchise movie. I can make some money, let my kids do what the hell they want to do.'”
However, “the director and Will didn’t get along very well,” Caan said. “Will wanted to do it, and he didn’t want the director, and [Favreau] had it in his contract. It was one of those things.”
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Although fans ofElfhave been clamoring for a sequel since the original film’s release, Ferrell has made it clear that he is not interested in participating.
In December 2013, the actor said there would “absolutely not” be a sequel. “It would look slightly pathetic if I tried to squeeze back into the Elf tights,” he said on Bravo’sWatch What Happens Live.
Ferrell is working on another Christmas movie, a movie musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’A Christmas CarolcalledSpirited. The film also stars Ryan Reynolds.
source: people.com
