Oscar award winning actress Octavia Spencer (The Help, Ma) is in talks to join Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds in the upcoming holiday film Spirited. Spirited will be different take on Charles Dickens‘s A Christmas Carol, with Daddy’s Home Sean Anders and John Morris directing the film from their own screenplay. According to Collider, Reynolds will play the Scrooge-like lead who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Ferrell is said to play Present, and Spencer is in talks to play Reynolds’ amiable co-worker who helps Present teach the man graciousness and kindness during the holidays. Spencer is also expected to sing in the film.
Apple bought the rights to the film, beating Netflix, Warner Bros, and Paramount for the prized package which states that Reynolds and Ferrell will each make at least $30 million. This doesn’t include Anders and Morris’ payday of $10 million to $15 million for creating the movie and overseeing its production, and this is before production has even begun. With all this is mind, I have high hopes for this film.
This will not be Spencer’s first role in an Apple+ original, as she currently stars in the streamer’s mystery series Truth Be Told, which was just renewed for a second season. Spencer has won an Oscar for her supporting role in The Help, and was nominated for her roles in Hidden Figures and The Shape of Water. She was also an executive producer on the film Green Book. Spencer is represented by WME.
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