Earlier today, we reported that Ronald Reagan’s family had issued statements regarding Will Ferrell’s planned movie about President Ronald Reagan’s alzheimer’s, and how that might have impacted his judgment while acting as the head of the United States. Reagan’s daughter was not happy, and found it unbelievable that Hollywood would create a potentially insensitive portrait of a man suffering from a degenerative mental disease. Mere hours later, Ferrell has pulled out of the film.
Ferrell has not made a statement regarding his decision to leave the project, though one has to wonder: had he not previously considered that such a film — which potentially made light not only of a President of the U.S., but also of a disease as tragic as Alzheimer’s — might generate some controversy, specifically from the family members of the subject of the film?
The film was written by Mike Rosolio, who until now has no film work to his name, which doesn’t mean anything about the quality of the film, necessarily, but probably increases the chances that, without the power of a star the size of Ferrell involved, the project might not move forward. Or, at least, it might not move forward very quickly.