If you've ever wondered what happened to the glory days of Will Ferrell comedies like Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Stepbrothers, director Adam McKay has an answer: "I f*cked up."
In a lengthy and acerbic profile piece from Vanity Fair, succinctly titled "Who the F*ck Cares About Adam McKay?" the longtime director, producer, and writer opened up about his career ahead of the release of his latest dark comedy "Don't Look Up."
McKay and Ferrell found themselves recruited to the set of SNL on the same week in the mid-90's, and the two later became close business partners, working together on the script for Anchorman. McKay and Ferrell's partnership would result in some of the 2000's most popular comedy films, including the aforementioned Talladega Nights, Stepbrothers, and The Other Guys. McKay and Ferrell similarly co-founded Funny or Die, the web-based comedy production house in 2007.
After producing the Broadway show "You're Welcome, America," Ferrell and McKay's relationship began to fray due to diverging professional interests. As Vanity Fair describes it, McKay began pursuing more roles producing film and TV projects, often with Ferrell. Meanwhile, Ferrell was singularly interested in creating more Will Ferrell-style comedies, and didn't have the "bandwidth" that producing required.
“The whole time we were doing [production studio] Gary Sanchez,” says McKay, referring to the film production company the two co-founded, “I was saying, ‘I don’t care what happens so long as this company doesn’t fuck with our friendship.’”
Alas, McKay went on to direct and co-write The Big Short, a much more political comedy based on the 2007-2008 financial crisis. It received four Oscar nominations and one win for best adapted screenplay. Despite this clear growth away from Ferrell comedy vehicles, McKay's agent Jimmy Miller kept pushing McKay to work again with Ferrell, who he also represented.
“Everything kept steering back towards, ‘Well, when are you going to work with Will?’” he says. “And then finally I was like, ‘Jimmy, come on. Clearly I’m going in a different direction. Hopefully, it’s no hard feelings.' I’ve learned some lessons,” McKay adds. “It’s always hard feelings.”
McKay dropped his agent and went on to produce 2018's Vice, the Oscar-nominated, critical bio of former United States Vice President Dick Cheney. Meanwhile, Ferrell released the critical and commercial failure Holmes & Watson, appearing alongside longtime co-star John C. Reilly. McKay was brought on in the latter stages of production to help with Holmes & Watson's theatrical edit, but described it as being "in rough shape" by the time he got there.
After multiple flirtations with shutting down Gary Sanchez Productions, the deciding blow to Ferrell and McKay's relationship came down to a casting decision in the upcoming HBO series about the 1980's Los Angeles Lakers. Ferrell, a huge Lakers fan, was replaced to play Lakers' owner Jerry Buss, by none other than John C. Reilly, who McKay wanted for the role and failed to inform Ferrell out of fear of hurting the actor's feelings.
McKay and Ferrell issued a joint statement in 2019 announcing their split as business partners, and the last time the pair reportedly spoke was a brief phone conversation to confirm the split.
"I’m like, ‘F*ck, Ferrell’s never going to talk to me again,'" McKay said. "So it ended not well.”
McKay says he's emailed Ferrell in an attempt to reconcile since then, but has never heard back.
“I f*cked up on how I handled that,” McKay laments. “It’s the old thing of keep your side of the street clean. I should have just done everything by the book.”
McKay's latest film, Don't Look Up, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as astronomers who've discovered a giant meteor heading for Earth, but meet darkly satirical opposition from the media and even the President, played by Meryl Streep. The film is pitched as a darkly comedic riff on the climate crisis, and hits theaters on December 10 and Netflix on December 24.
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/other guy for IGN.
Continue reading...
In a lengthy and acerbic profile piece from Vanity Fair, succinctly titled "Who the F*ck Cares About Adam McKay?" the longtime director, producer, and writer opened up about his career ahead of the release of his latest dark comedy "Don't Look Up."
McKay and Ferrell found themselves recruited to the set of SNL on the same week in the mid-90's, and the two later became close business partners, working together on the script for Anchorman. McKay and Ferrell's partnership would result in some of the 2000's most popular comedy films, including the aforementioned Talladega Nights, Stepbrothers, and The Other Guys. McKay and Ferrell similarly co-founded Funny or Die, the web-based comedy production house in 2007.
After producing the Broadway show "You're Welcome, America," Ferrell and McKay's relationship began to fray due to diverging professional interests. As Vanity Fair describes it, McKay began pursuing more roles producing film and TV projects, often with Ferrell. Meanwhile, Ferrell was singularly interested in creating more Will Ferrell-style comedies, and didn't have the "bandwidth" that producing required.
“The whole time we were doing [production studio] Gary Sanchez,” says McKay, referring to the film production company the two co-founded, “I was saying, ‘I don’t care what happens so long as this company doesn’t fuck with our friendship.’”
Alas, McKay went on to direct and co-write The Big Short, a much more political comedy based on the 2007-2008 financial crisis. It received four Oscar nominations and one win for best adapted screenplay. Despite this clear growth away from Ferrell comedy vehicles, McKay's agent Jimmy Miller kept pushing McKay to work again with Ferrell, who he also represented.
“Everything kept steering back towards, ‘Well, when are you going to work with Will?’” he says. “And then finally I was like, ‘Jimmy, come on. Clearly I’m going in a different direction. Hopefully, it’s no hard feelings.' I’ve learned some lessons,” McKay adds. “It’s always hard feelings.”
McKay dropped his agent and went on to produce 2018's Vice, the Oscar-nominated, critical bio of former United States Vice President Dick Cheney. Meanwhile, Ferrell released the critical and commercial failure Holmes & Watson, appearing alongside longtime co-star John C. Reilly. McKay was brought on in the latter stages of production to help with Holmes & Watson's theatrical edit, but described it as being "in rough shape" by the time he got there.
After multiple flirtations with shutting down Gary Sanchez Productions, the deciding blow to Ferrell and McKay's relationship came down to a casting decision in the upcoming HBO series about the 1980's Los Angeles Lakers. Ferrell, a huge Lakers fan, was replaced to play Lakers' owner Jerry Buss, by none other than John C. Reilly, who McKay wanted for the role and failed to inform Ferrell out of fear of hurting the actor's feelings.
McKay and Ferrell issued a joint statement in 2019 announcing their split as business partners, and the last time the pair reportedly spoke was a brief phone conversation to confirm the split.
"I’m like, ‘F*ck, Ferrell’s never going to talk to me again,'" McKay said. "So it ended not well.”
McKay says he's emailed Ferrell in an attempt to reconcile since then, but has never heard back.
“I f*cked up on how I handled that,” McKay laments. “It’s the old thing of keep your side of the street clean. I should have just done everything by the book.”
McKay's latest film, Don't Look Up, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence as astronomers who've discovered a giant meteor heading for Earth, but meet darkly satirical opposition from the media and even the President, played by Meryl Streep. The film is pitched as a darkly comedic riff on the climate crisis, and hits theaters on December 10 and Netflix on December 24.
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/other guy for IGN.
Continue reading...