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Will Ferrellsays making his new Christmas movieSpiritedwith costarRyan Reynoldsall came down to great timing.
At the New York City premiere ofSpiritedat Alice Tully Hall on Monday, Ferrell, widely loved for his role asBuddy the Elf in the 2003 holiday filmElf, revealed that he and Reynolds had been in conversation about making the new movie as long as “five years ago.”
“It was, you know what? The timing of things like that just happened when they happened,” Ferrell told PEOPLE on Monday. “I mean, we had actually talked about this movie five years ago.”
“Yeah, it was just a wonderful idea that I had responded to,” Ferrell added. “I thought it was a really brilliant way to redoChristmas Carol, kind of from the ghost of Christmas present perspective and to also be in a musical for the first time where I really had to kind of do it for real.”
Asked whether fans can expect Ferrell to star in more musicals moving forward, the actor and comedian joked that he’s “going to be starring inMean Girls.”
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The movie was a box office hit, grossing $223 million worldwide as it grew into an instant Christmas classic. In October 2021, Ferrell toldThe Hollywood Reporterthat heturned down a $29 million payday for taking part in anElfsequelbecause it had a similar premise to the 2003 original.
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“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 toldTHRat the time. “And I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.’ "
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In December 2013, Ferrell said there would “absolutely not” be a sequel toElf. “It would look slightly pathetic if I tried to squeeze back into the Elf tights,” he said on Bravo’sWatch What Happens Live.
“Clint Briggs turns the tables on his ghostly host until Present finds himself reexamining his own past, present and future,” the synopsis adds. “For the first time,A Christmas Carolis told from the perspective of the ghosts in this hilarious musical twist on the classic Dickens tale.”
source: people.com
