Will Ferrell

What is up with Will Ferrell these days?

He has reportedly turned down $29 Million dollars to appear in a sequel to Elf. He has also openly admitted that he will not appear in a sequel to Old School. Money is not much of an issue to him at this point, but I am disappointed to hear we won't be having a sequel to Old School. I was hoping to see one with the full cast returning and a solid script backing it.

"There's been a few rumors flying around lately that Will Ferrell might be doing another "Elf" and will almost definitely being doing another "Old School." Well, the actor roundly denied both rumors, and did so in typically amusing fashion.

From The Guardian: "By 2005, after only 10 years in the business, Forbes magazine had Ferrell down as America's best-paid actor, with $40m in the bank that year. And he turned down $29m to make Elf 2, a sequel to his brilliant 2003 Christmas hit about a human raised by elves, making his way in Manhattan. Wow, indeed.

Will isn't at all embarrassed talking about such large sums of money. 'That's what was on offer for it,' he says. 'But I killed the idea of a sequel. I never liked it - $29m does seem a lot of money for a guy to wear tights, but it's what the marketplace will bear. It's insane, but it's not my call. The studios perpetuate it and they make it hard to say no.' 'It wasn't difficult at all,' he says. 'I remember asking myself: could I withstand the criticism when it's bad and they say, "He did the sequel for the money"? I decided I wouldn't be able to. I didn't want to wander into an area that could erase all the good work I've done - but you watch, I'll do some sequel in the future that's crap.'

Will is remarkably clear about the real value of his film work. I mention a rumour about a sequel to Old School, the boorish 2003 Frat comedy he made with Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson and in which he famously runs around town in his Y-fronts. I add that I really hope there isn't more of this to come. 'Oh, I wouldn't do another Old School,' he says quickly. 'They put these rumours out there, these studio people, but I would never be behind that one.'"

www.rottentomatoes.com...

As disappointing as this is, it is nice to see an Actor retain his dignity. Too many actors sell out and take ridiculous roles, just for a paycheck. Too often we have sequels to great movies, that leaves a serious dark spot on the series.

American Pie, anyone? Anyone? My point exactly.

So this could be a good thing, but I was still holding out for a possible sequel.

Fair play to the man! Bogging himself down with sequels, no matter what the paycheck, would have been a bad idea. Especially for a man of his talents.

In my eyes, sequels tend to flop pretty quickly, they try to beat the originals and fail.

Usually miserably.

As you said, it's nice to see an actor have some dignity.

*cough*Eugene Levy*cough*

Eugene Levy, Oh Z I share your pain.

I would love to know who selects this man's scripts. I don't think he has ever turned down a role. If ATS ever comes Hollywood, Eugene Levy is your man.

It's deciding who he would play. Who would we want to burden?

But back to Will Ferrell. I agree, it is disappointing. But with any luck, movies like Old School will not be tarnished by horrible sequels.

First rule of a sequel, get all of the original cast.
Second rule of sequel, make sure rule one has been filled.
Third rule, have a good script!

No matter how good the script is, you need the original cast. With Ferrell saying he will not be a part of Old School 2, I don't want to see one made. Although, Vaughn, could certainly carry the load.

I have to say I dig Will Ferrell for refusing to sell out and do sequels that are garbage. He has enough money now where he can be choosy and smart....

He sure is one funny bastard and I'm sure we will be seeing a lot more of him for a long time!!

Agreed.

I do question some of his roles though. Some of them are skeptical to say the least. I had hoped he would work hard on a solid script for a follow up to some of his previous hits. Might have a little more promise than some of the roles he has accepted.

It is disappointing to think that we'll never hear from Frank The Tank again.