Will Ferrell Turned Down $29 Million to Star in ELF 2, He Explains Why
Did you know that Will Ferrell was offered $29 million to star in Elf 2, but he turned it down? That’s a lot of money to say no to, but Ferrell had his reasons for not putting on those yellow tights again to play buddy.
In a recently interview with THR, Ferrell explained his reasoning for not signing up for the sequel, titled Elf 2: Buddy Saves Christmas, which would have seen a rehashed premise. Ferrell was certainly not a fan of the script or the story. He said:
"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.'"
Ferrell previously said that he "absolutely not" reprise Buddy for an Elf 2, telling Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, "I just think it would look slightly pathetic if I tried to squeeze back in the elf tights. Buddy the middle-aged elf."
James Caan was willing to come back for the sequel, but he previously shared that the real reason the sequel didn’t happen was because Ferrell and director Jon Favreau had issues working with each other. He told 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland:
"We were gonna do it, 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.' The director and Will didn't get along very well. Will wanted to do it, and he didn't want the director. He had it in his contract. It was one of those things."
So, what are Favreau’s thoughts on the Elf sequel? He explained:
"In the beginning, there was talk of sequel, and it never came to be, probably for the best as now it exists as its own thing. But it comes up. I hear from the studio who pitch me different takes on it. There is part of me that wonders if there's anything to be done to follow-up Elf, but I think a straight sequel is probably not the right move."
Favreau went on to say that and Elf sequel would be "a big gamble. If I don't do anything I'd be very happy with what [Elf] is. The minute you take it on, you try to add on to something, you always run the risk of diminishing from the original."
Personally, I’m happy that Elf never got a sequel. The movie that exists is a perfect Christmas story that doesn’t need one. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day some Hollywood hotshot is going to come around and reboot it in some way.