Ryan Reynolds Scares Will Ferrell In Bed In First Look At Spirited
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What could two of the funniest people do to make everyone else’s lives more fun? One possibility is that they should make a movie together. And since they both often make movies with plenty of adult humor, maybe it should be a Christmas movie? Well, obviously, and that’s exactly what’s happening. Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell will sing, dance, and get us all in the holiday mood for Apple TV+’s Spirited. The streamer has released images from the upcoming movie — as reported by Slash Film — and, among other things, Reynolds will apparently be scaring his co-star in bed.
As you might be able to tell from the images below, Spirited promises to be a musical re-imagining of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. That makes the photo of Ryan Reynolds seemingly scaring the heck out of Ferrell that much stranger, since it’s apparently Reynolds who will play the iconic Ebeneezer Scrooge, and Ferrell who’s playing one of the four — counting, of course, Scrooge’s old business partner Jacob Marley — ghosts who visit him. Ferrel will play Present and, you know, traditionally it’s the ghosts who are supposed to do the scaring. As you can see in the other images below, Spirited will include plenty of singing and dancing, as well as an appearance by the beloved Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), though her character’s identity has yet to be revealed.
Playing Past is Sunita Mani (GLOW) though no one’s name has yet been revealed for Future, who is sure to give Ryan Reynolds a scare of his own. Traditionally, Future is the most intimidating of the ghosts, so it could be that no actor will play Future. The spirit may instead be represented by some terrifying CGI creation.
For many fans, the first notion they got that Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell were working together was in a viral TikTok the former posted last September. It begins with Reynolds singing part of Mika’s 2007 song “Grace Kelly.” Toward the end of the video, after hearing Reynolds sing the low part of the tune, Ferrell wanders into the frame, singing in an exaggerated high pitch. You can see that clip below.
The following month, Ryan Reynolds announced on Instagram he had wrapped his filming for Spirited, leaving a lovely message in the caption for the cast and crew. He ended this message with, “These days, kindness matters as much as talent. I’ve been lucky to work with folks who are flush with both.” You can read the whole caption — as well as seeing several production and behind the scenes images from Spirited — below.
From both the Instagram post above and the images presented earlier, it appears that the dynamic between Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell will be different from what we’re used to in A Christmas Carol and its many remakes and re-imaginings. In several of the production photos, Ferrell’s Present looks just as shocked or scared (or, in the case of the bed shot, much more scared) as Scrooge. The pair seem to have a more cooperative relationship than we’ve seen in past versions, which could prove interesting.
Spirited is directed and written by the team of Sean Anders (That’s My Boy) and John Morris (Instant Family). Along with the actors already mentioned, it stars Patrick Page (In the Heights), Aime Carrero (The Last Witch Hunter), Joe Tippett (Mare of Easttown), Marlow Barkley (Single Parents), and Jen Tullock (Severance). The release date hasn’t been revealed, though expect it to drop on Apple TV+ during the winter holidays of 2022.
