Will Ferrell explains why he turned down £23 million to do Elf sequel in brutal six-word statement

In Hollywood nowadays, if a film makes a boatload of money, it is simply assumed that some kind of sequel is probably on the way.

Look at last year’s biggest successes at the box office and it becomes incredibly clear, as of the top 15 films, 14 were sequels, and the 15^th was Wicked, which has a sequel coming out this year and isn’t exactly an ‘original’ story.

It is a rare thing therefore for actors to turn down the chance to make a boatload of money making a sequel.

Will Ferrell, however, did exactly that when he turned down £23 million to make a sequel to Elf.

Will Ferrell turned down a huge amount to be in an Elf sequel (Lia Toby via Getty Images)

The iconic Christmas movie made a whopping $220 million off a budget of just $33 million.

Add to that the cult status the film has garnered since its release, and it’s not surprising that Warner Brothers offered Ferrell such a huge amount of money to star in the film.

There have been several reasons floated as to why Ferrell turned down the chance to return for the sequel.

Ferrell’s late Elf co-star James Caan spoke about it in a radio interview in 2020, and revealed that him and the rest of the cast were on board and had agree to do it.

But the issue Caan claimed was a rift between Ferrell and the director and fellow co-star Jon Favreau.

James Caan spoke out about Will Ferrell not returning (Warner Brothers)

The late actor also said that Ferrell had a clause in his contract which prevented Favreau from working with him on any potential sequel, claiming this scuppered the chances of a follow-up.

When asked directly about the possibility we may have gotten more Buddy the Elf however, Ferrell had a much more simple and absolutely brutal response.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ferrell 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'.

“I thought, 'Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie'.”

Will Ferrell was offered a huge amount to return for Elf 2 (Warner Brothers)

Ferrell may not have starred in Elf 2, but that hasn’t stopped him being prolific in recent years.

The actor just recently released a Netflix documentary Will and Harper, a beautiful film about him and his best friend of 30 years taking a road trip across America after discovering she was transgender.

The film received 99% on Rotten Tomatoes and was widely praised, and he is following this up with a new comedy that came out today.

Ferrell stars alongside Reese Witherspoon in You’re Cordially Invited, a wedding romcom.