‘Spirited’ Trailer: Will Ferrell Is the Ghost of Christmas Past Here to Disrupt Ryan Reynolds

The Ghost of Christmas Present is putting a modern twist on a beloved tale of holidays past.

Apple Original film “Spirited” stars Will Ferrell as the Ghost of Christmas Present who selects grumpy corporate executive Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds) as his newest project. However, Clint soon flips the script on the Christmas spirit and instead visits the spirit’s past, present, and future.

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Inspired by Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol,” the musical film also stars Octavia Spencer, Sunita Mani, Patrick Page, Joe Tippett, Marlow Barkley, and Jen Tullock. “Daddy’s Home” helmer Sean Anders directs from a script he co-wrote the script John Morris.

“Spirited” features original songs penned by “Dear Evan Hansen” and “La La Land” Oscar and Tony Award winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

“The rumors stop here. Will and I did NOT lip sync our dancing in ‘Spirited,'” Reynolds joked in a teaser video he recently tweeted, citing that the trailer will “settle it.”

Ferrell added in the video, “Now, we want to dispel the rumors that we didn’t do all the singing ourselves. This is 100 percent pure Ryan and Will, here,” with Milli Vanilli dubbing both actors’ voices.

“Spirited” features ensemble dance numbers choreographed by Chloe Arnold, with a tap dancing sequence teased in the sneak peek of the film. Co-writers Anders and Morris produce the film via Two Grown Men, Ferrell produces with Jessical Elbaum via Gloria Sanchez, and David Koplan and George Dewey via Maximum Effort Productions. Songwriters Pasek and Paul also executive produce, as does Diana Pokorny.

“Spirited” marks Ferrell’s first foray back into holiday films since the 2003 comedy “Elf,” which Ferrell later infamously turned down a $29 million deal to star in a follow-up sequel. Ferrell revealed in 2021 that he would have no interest other than the paycheck to sign on for the role.

“I would have had to promote the movie from an honest place, which would’ve been, like, ‘Oh no, it’s not good. I just couldn’t turn down that much money,'” Ferrell said. “And I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.'”

“Spirited” premieres in theaters November 11 and will be streaming November 18 on Apple TV+.

Check out the trailer below.

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