Let’s face it, most of us would have a pretty hard time walking away from $29 million. However, when one is Will Ferrell, we suppose that’s probably an easier choice to make. But the fact of the matter is, that’s still a ton of money. Not even that sizable amount, though, could tempt Ferrell into Elf 2, a sequel for the beloved Christmas comedy.
Ferrell recently opened up about the Elf sequel to The Hollywood Reporter. The article shares:
A sequel was written, which would’ve paid him $29 million had Ferrell not balked at its rehashed premise. He says the decision to walk away was simple: “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.’ And I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.’”
Warner Bros.
It’s honestly a shame that the script for Elf 2 was so bad because we would have loved to catch up with Buddy and the rest of the gang. But we can imagine recapturing the magic of the original would be a difficult task. So we have to agree the best outcome was for a terrible sequel not to be made. And honestly, Ferrell’s artistic integrity is commendable.
With the number of bad sequels that hit the theaters, it doesn’t feel like this kind of conversation gets had too often. It takes a strong actor to know when to say no, this just won’t be any good. We can always tell when actors truly love their movies… And we can tell when they can’t. Although we wonder what adventures Elf 2 would have taken us on. For now, we can do what we always do. Get cozy, make hot chocolate, prepare the spaghetti, and watch the original.
