Will Ferrell Pulls Out Of Ronald Reagan Movie After Outrage From Family

On Wednesday, Variety reported that Will Ferrell would be portraying Ronald Reagan in Reagan, which he was also slated to produce. But following outcry from the Reagan family, who assumed the film would be a comedy, Ferrell has pulled out of the project.Reagan's son Michael, now president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation, tweeted:

Reagan's daughter Patti Davis wrote in a blog post:

"There was laughter in those years, but there was never humor," she continued. "Perhaps for your comedy you would like to visit some dementia facilities. I have — I didn’t find anything comedic there, and my hope would be that if you’re a decent human being, you wouldn’t either."

But here's the thing: there was little other than Ferrell's reputation as a comedian that indicated that Reagan was itself a "comedy." Additionally, a live read of the script was performed last month featuring Lena Dunham and John Cho, two comedic actors. The plot of the film, according to Variety, follows Reagan's second term, as he falls into dementia. An intern must convince the president that he is an actor playing the president in a movie. This doesn't exactly scream "serious biopic," but Ferrell's reps said it wasn't a comedy either.

A spokesman for Ferrell told Page Six, "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."

Another source told Page Six, "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." Ferrell's reps wouldn't confirm whether Ferrell pulled out because of the response from the Reagans. Either way, Michael is pleased with the news: