Will Ferrell On Why He Declined $29 Million For Elf 2

2003 s holiday movie Elf is a modern classic, but despite its big success, a sequel was never made. Celebrity Will Ferrell shares even more details in a new interview on why he passed on the movie, which apparently would have paid him $29 million.

The Hollywood Reporter claims a sequel was composed, but Ferrell decided to hand down the project since he would have just been doing it for the cash.

I would have had to promote the movie from a straightforward location, which would certainly ve been, like, Oh no, it s bad. I just could not turn down that much money. And also I assumed, Can I actually claim those words? I do not think I can, so I presume I can t do the motion picture, Ferrell explained.

Likewise in the interview, Ferrell recalls thinking Elf might be completion of his acting career. Running through New York City in an elf costume full with yellow leggings, Ferrell recalls, Kid, this might be completion. He added that screentests for Elf revealed a great deal of guarantee not only with family members audiences but likewise USC frat young boys, suggesting it would certainly be a wide hit.

James Caan, who plays Ferrell s father in Elf, formerly spoke about just how plans broke down for the sequel due partially to a reported clash between Ferrell and director Jon Favreau.

We were gon na do it. As well as I assumed, Oh my god, I lastly obtained a franchise business motion picture, I can make some cash, Caan described. The supervisor and also Will didn t get along effectively. Will certainly desired to do it... and also he really did not desire that director, as well as he had it in his contract. It was one of those things. It s also poor.

Favreau, who would go on to straight Iron Man and also start the MCU in 2008, was not initially affixed to direct Elf, and he really did not like the noise of it from the begin. For the film s 10th wedding anniversary in 2013, Favreau told Wanderer that he wasn t particularly interested in the film after checking out the script, which was much darker than what was at some point shot.

After he re-wrote the script, Elf came to be a PG motion picture where it was formerly envisioned as a PG-13 movie. He was a darker personality in the script I had actually reviewed initially. The character became a bit extra innocent, as well as the globe ended up being more of a pastiche of the Rankin/Bass films. The studio [New Line] review it and consented to make it, and that s when I was brought on to guide, Favreau said.

Elf was Ferrell s very first solo flick after leaving Saturday Night Live. The film additionally starred Zooey Deschanel, Edward Asner, Peter Dinklage, Bob Newhart, and Mary Steenburgen.