Will Ferrell’s R-rated ABA romp, Semi-Pro, opens today and is expected to do boffo business. Buzz is good, but not spectacular. Nobody’s calling the film a comedy classic, and it arguably could have been. Great source material. The actor took a time-out from picking his ‘fro to chat with AICN twice about his upcoming mega-budget sci-fi comedy Land of the Lost, as well as eulogize a few other projects. Directed by Brad Siberling, who did Casper and Moonlight Mile, I’m still not sure what to expect from this 2009 film that pits Ferrell against CGI dinosaurs, especially when it comes to tone. Ferrell alludes to it being less like, I dunno, The Flintstones but doesn’t clarify much more…
“[Land of the Lost] will be PG-13, which I understand why that is and yet we still want [edge]. …It’s right up to an R and we are going to pull that line with the studio, because I already had an experience with Kicking and Screaming. Kicking and Screaming was supposed to be more of a Bad News Bears type comedy and they kind of [made it lame and made it PG].”
One film that I think Ferrell is perhaps born to star in (but apparently will not) is a film adaptation of A Confederacy of Dunces, widely cited as one of the best American novels ever written. While I’m of the belief that The Catcher in the Rye should never be put to film, after seeing Stranger Than Fiction, a dramedy that is still widely underrated, I remain convinced that Ferrell can do justice to Dunces‘ main character, the eccentric, 30-year-old ne’re-do-well Ignatius J. Reilly. A few years ago Ferrell was attached, along with Natasha Lyonne (a clever choice for the love interest Myrna Minkoff), with David Gordon Greene (The Pineapple Express, George Washington) to direct. Might it still happen…?
“As far as I know [an adaptation] is gone. …It’s a mystery. For some reason that’s a very scary project for people to take on and I don’t know why, but yeah I have no idea. The script…I loved it. …I think that’s such a big piece to tackle, that I think for a script, they didn’t have every single scene in the book, but it was a really nice effort, but I don’t know what to tell you.”
And from a literary classic to a beer pong/bong classic, wassup with Old School 2?
“I read [the script]. Some super funny set pieces, but I don’t know. I think Vince [Vaughn] had the same reaction. We’re just kind of doing the same thing again. It was like us going to Spring Break, but we’ve got to find this guy who’s the head of a fraternity. Once again, funny things but it’s just us once again back in a fraternity setting. It just felt like it was repeating. But watch, I’m over thinking it.”
And like a dingleberry stuck to a long and winding news item, Ferrell updates us about Elf 2: It’s dead.
Discuss: If you had to spend eternity watching and rewatching a Will Ferrell sports comedy that still hasn’t been made, would it be: The Untitled Will Ferrell Polo Movie or the Untitled Will Ferrell Sumo Wrestling Movie? I choose: UWF Polo.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
A Confederacy of Dunces has been kicked around as a movie project for so long that John Belushi was the first to be rumored for the lead and later John Candy and then in the late 1990s it was Philip S. Hoffman. I haven’t been able to find anything about it since 2003 when it was going to be Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, Mos Def, and I think Olympia Dukakis. Ferrell would have to be in a fat suit / prosthetics, but would well considering the fact that the character is very tall (like Ferrell) beyond being just morbidly obese.
I really have no idea how well it would work, but I would have been very interested to see a movie adaptation. Certainly there are some incredible characters and scenes in the book that would work wonderfully. It’s really the only book I know of that virtually everyone I talk to who has read it says that it had them laughing to the point of tears and stomach pains. That said, it’s a tough book and would be a challenge to adapt, but I figured that if Ferrell was behind it, he was big enough to push it into production. I’m bummed out that it won’t be made.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Oh my gosh…one time I had a nightmare about Elf 2. No joke. I had a dream I saw Elf 2 and it was so bad and I was devastated.
Elf is sacred to me and one of my biggest fears has been a terrible sequel, Santa Claus 2 style.
I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about it anymore :)
February 29th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
If Will ever wants to play a convincing Ignatius J. Riley, he’d better hit the buffet, like, now!
March 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am
Did I just read Will Ferrell saying he’s not gonna do Old School 2 because its more of the same!?!?!
Fuck, Almost every character he’s played has been the same Retard who’s inexplicably in a position of authority with “hilarious” consequences.
March 1st, 2008 at 4:28 pm
“Ferrell can do justice to Dunces‘ main character, the eccentric, 30-year-old ne’re-do-well Ignatius J. Reilly”.
Belushi, Candy and I believe Victor Bono (King Tut in the Bat man series) were all considered. They all died. Beware Will. The character requires an aura of erudition and pompousness. I think Will can do the later; I don’t know about the former.
I would rather it be an unknown. Will seems to play himself in every role.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:48 am
So basically that means there is no chance of him being in anything good for some time. Okay. Got it.