Will Ferrell: Nevermind on That Reagan Movie

Actor won't be playing former POTUS after all
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 29, 2016 1:54 PM CDT
Will Ferrell: Nevermind on That Reagan Movie
In this Feb. 9, 2016 file photo, Will Ferrell attends the world premiere of "Zoolander 2" in New York.   (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Apparently Will Ferrell was listening: After news of his upcoming role in a comedy about Ronald Reagan's struggle with Alzheimer's disease caused an uproar, Ferrell has pulled out of the project. "The REAGAN script is one of a number of scripts that had been submitted to Will Ferrell which he had considered. While it is by no means an 'Alzheimer’s comedy' as has been suggested, Mr. Ferrell is not pursuing this project," a Ferrell spokesperson tells the New York Post. Adds a source, "It wasn’t a complete project because there was no financing and no director attached. Will considered the movie but ultimately decided not to do it."

The movie, which certainly sounded like a comedy (a White House intern reportedly has to convince a second-term President Reagan that he's actually an actor playing the POTUS), had been denounced by Reagan's own family. And a former Reagan staffer tells Fox & Friends Reagan didn't even have Alzheimer's while he was president. There's no word on whether the outcry over the film's premise caused Ferrell's decision, but Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis, tells the Post, "I am so relieved that Will has decided against this film. I can’t imagine that anybody else would sign onto it." (More Ronald Reagan stories.)

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