Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds' 'A Christmas Carol' Musical Lands at Apple

Sean Anders and John Morris, who were behind the hit 'Daddy's Home' movies, will write and direct.


Coming out on top of a bidding war, Apple is in final negotiations to pick up Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds’ musical reimagining of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol.


The two A-listers will be starring in the piece that is set to be helmed by Sean Anders and John Morris. The writing-directing team previously worked with Ferrell on his two hit Daddy’s Home comedies.


Producing the new take on the Christmas tale are Ferrell and Jessica Elbaum via their Gloria Sanchez label and Reynolds and George Dewey via the duo’s Maximum Effort banner. Anders and Morris are also producing with their label Two Grown Men.


Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but sources say Apple moved aggressively as it is seeks to make an impact in the original features space.


Dickens’ Christmas Carol tells the story of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. It has proven to be a Hollywood staple, with adaptations ranging from the more literal to the loose (Bill Murray’s Scrooged), using devices from puppetry (The Muppet Christmas Carol) to motion-capture (Jim Carrey in Robert Zemeckis’ 2009 take).


Ferrell is next set to star in the comedy Eurovision and the drama Downhill, and acted as a producer on the critically acclaimed Hustlers and Booksmart.


Reynolds next stars in the action-comedy Free Guy, which was a highlight at last week's New York Comic Con, and Michael Bay’s action flick 6 Underground.