Will Ferrell And Kristen Wiig’s Secret Lifetime Movie Gets Scrapped After Internet Leak
Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig won’t get to make their campy Lifetime movie after all.
This week, news leaked that the comedians were coming together to film a tongue-in-cheek send-up of the network’s over-the-top dramas. But after news leaked, Will Ferrell released a statement saying the leak changed their mind about the movie.
“We are deeply disappointed that our planned top secret project was made public,” Ferrell said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “Kristen and I have decided it is in the best interest for everyone to forego the project entirely, and we thank Lifetime and all the people who were ready to help us make this film.”
The Lifetime movie starring Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell was reportedly being produced by Ferrell and frequent collaborator Adam McKay’s Gary Sanchez Productions. The Hollywood Reporter shared more details about the project.
“Set for a likely early summer debut, Ferrell and Wiig star in the dramatic thriller as a successful couple who house and care for a pregnant woman (played by 90210 alum Jessica Lowndes) with the hopes of adopting her unborn child — then things quickly go awry. The movie is described as campy and fun and a contemporary wink at the genre that comes as Lifetime is poised to mark the 25th anniversary of its TV movie business.”
While the fate of the Lifetime movie may be sealed thanks to the internet leaks, both Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell have big projects in the works. Kristen is leading an all-female cast for the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot, directed by her Bridesmaids partner Paul Feig.
The cast also includes Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Melissa McCarthy, and comes with the enthusiastic approval of original Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd, who has worked to bring the franchise back to life.
Aykroyd noted, “The Aykroyd family is delighted by this inheritance of the ‘Ghostbusters’ torch by these most magnificent women in comedy. My great grandfather, Dr. Sam Aykroyd, the original Ghostbuster, was a man who empowered women in his day, and this is a beautiful development in the legacy of our family business.”
Will Ferrell, meanwhile, has three projects in the works, including the sequel Zoolander 2.
The timing of Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig’s secret Lifetime movie — which came on Wednesday, or April Fools’ Day — led many to believe that it was a joke. This could explain why it was “scrapped” just two days later.
[Image via Getty Images/Handout]