Because this Christmas classic never had a sequel

Will Ferrell’s Getaway

We will celebrate soon 20 years of Christmas comedy Elfreleased in French cinemas on December 3, 2003. At the time, Will Ferrell wasn’t yet the big American comedy star he would soon become, and the film had all the makings of a stunning project. If he convinced at the beginning of this same year with Back to collegenothing is certain for this comedy in which he plays Buddy, a human being raised in Santa Claus’ landl, adopted by Papa Elf after being abandoned by his parents. Having become an adult and too imposing to continue living and working among the elves, he leaves for New York in search of his biological father.

Elf it is Jon Favreau’s second production, it counts in its cast the former glory James Caan as well as the young Zooey Deschanel. It also has a production budget of $33 million. Result of the competitions: the press is won over by this comedy as sincere and well-intentioned as they are very funnyand the film grossed more than $220 million in revenue. In other words, a triumph for Elf and its lead actor.

A suite? It’s “no” for Will Ferrell

Logical perspective, the producers therefore think of giving a sequel Elf. A few years later, a screenplay was written and an offer of $29 million done to Will Ferrell to reprise his role. But wasted effort, the actor refuses. Not a fan of the concept of sequels, unless the story lends itself right from the start, Will Ferrell has always refused to extend the adventure of the 2003 film. He had already explained this in 2013 to Andy Cohen of Watch What Happens Live , stating that it would be”slightly pathetic trying to fit into the elf’s tights, in Middle-aged Elf Buddy modeHe recalled this over and over again in 2021 in the columns of The Hollywood journalist :

I should have promoted the film (the sequel to “Elfe”, ed.) by being honest, which would have led to: “Oh no, it’s not a good film. I just couldn’t turn down that much money.” .” So I thought, “Can I really say these words? I don’t think so, so I think I can’t do the film.”

A conflict between Jon Favreau and Will Ferrell

On the one hand, therefore, Will Ferrell’s moral conscience and his desire not to lie about the quality of a film. But on the other, according to James Caan in 2020 in a radio interview, an incompatibility between Jon Favreau and Will Ferrell which also prevented any hope of seeing a sequel made.

There was talk of doing a sequel and I thought, “Oh my God, I’m finally going to get into a franchise! I can have money and let my kids do whatever they want.” (. ..) But Jon and Will didn’t get along very well. Will was interested, but he didn’t want the director.

Problem, as James Caan explains, the sequel to Elf era “to the contract” by Jon Favreau, which implied thisno sequel could be put into production without it. We will thus underline Will Ferrell’s decency in not personally naming the director of the films Iron Manbut who nevertheless expressed himself with the certainty that a sequel – therefore imperatively directed by Jon Favreau – would not be”a good movie“…

Source: Cine Serie

Ray

Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.