The Real Reason Will Ferrell Turned Down A Huge $29 Million Payday
Sometimes not all money is good money, and many actors know this all too well. Christian Bale, who played Batman in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy, turned down the opportunity to make a fourth film, even though he could've made $50 million, per Entertainment Weekly. "Chris had always said to me that if we were fortunate to be able to make three we would stop. 'Let's walk away after that,' he said. Then when they inevitably came to us and said, 'How about a No. 4?' I said, 'No. We have to stick to Chris' dream, which was always to, hopefully, do a trilogy,'" Bale said to The Toronto Sun. "'Let's not stretch too far and become overindulgent and go for a fourth.'"
There are other actors who turned down a huge payday, and ultimately regretted it, like Matt Damon. Damon could've had over a quarter of a billion dollars if he accepted James Cameron's "Avatar" film, per GQ. "So, yeah. I've left more money on the table than any actor actually," Damon said.
But what about Will Ferrell? He was supposed to be in the famous beloved Christmas film "Elf," but things didn't pan out and it was never created. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, there is a specific reason Ferrell never cashed in the $29 million bag, and it's not for the reasons you may think.
Will Ferrell didn't believe the Elf sequel would be 'that good'
Will Ferrell is a very humorous man, but his reasoning behind turning down an "Elf" sequel that would've paid him $29 million is no laughing matter. Ferrell told The Hollywood Reporter he turned down the sequel because it was very similar to the original movie. "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,'" Ferrell said. "And I thought, 'Can I actually say those words? I don't think I can, so I guess I can't do the movie.'"
James Caan, the man who played Buddy's father in "Elf," told 92.3 FM radio show "The Fan In Cleveland" that the whispers of a beef between Jon Favreau and Ferrell might be another possible reason why the film was never made. "The director and Will didn't get along very well," Caan claimed. According to Daily Mail, the contracts for "Elf" stated that both the director and actor had to agree to film together if the sequel was to come to life. "Will wanted to do it, and he didn't want the director, and [Favreau] had it in his contract. It was one of those things," Caan told "The Fan In Cleveland."