Like Detectives Gamble and Hoitz, racers Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr., newspeople Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone, and stepbrothers Brennan Huff and Dale Doback, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay have been an unstoppable team, finding success in Hollywood for over a decade. But all good things must come to an end, and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are breaking up, creatively.
The two men have decided to go their separate ways for future creative endeavors, thus ending a creative partnership that has lasted 13 years. Together Will Ferrell and Adam McKay formed the comedy generating production company Gary Sanchez, which spawned a spinoff company, the female-centric Gloria Sanchez. Those Paramount-based production companies will see through development and completion of their existing projects, but will probably be winding down as Will Ferrell and Adam McKay move on to new things.
In a statement released to Deadline, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay confirmed the split while ending things on a thankful and positive note. The statement reads:
The last 13 years could not have been more enjoyable and satisfying for the two of us at Sanchez Productions. We give massive thanks to our incredible staff and executives and all the writers, directors and actors we worked with through the years. The two of us will always work together creatively and always be friends. And we recognize we are lucky as hell to end this venture as such.
Although they may be breaking up from their formal creative partnership, this parting is not an unhappy one, as the two seem to be quite thankful and proud of the time they spent together and projects they worked on. This is not an acrimonious split, but an amicable and mutual decision. While their business relationship is coming to an end, their personal one is not, and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay remain close friends.
This isn’t the end of their work together either. As they say in their statement, they will continue to work together creatively. The two still have a huge slate of shared projects, so although this is the end of one chapter of the Ferrell/McKay partnership, we may still see Adam McKay and Will Ferrell’s name in the credits of future movies (fingers crossed Step Brothers 2 will reunite them one day).
The two have begun to diverge in their creative pursuits, with Adam McKay moving more towards politically charged films, like last year’s Vice, while Will Ferrell continues with the more traditional comedy fare that has made him a household name. As far as the future is concerned, the details are still being worked out, but both Ferrell and McKay will explore new endeavors and projects individually, and they are each expected to form new ventures for their post-Gary Sanchez careers.
So ends a partnership that is probably best measured in the number of laughs delivered. In addition to collaborating as producers on films like Daddy’s Home, Adam McKay directed Will Ferrell in a slew of modern comedy classics, including Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Anchorman and Anchorman 2, The Other Guys and Step Brothers.
Will Ferrell will next be onscreen later this year in James Franco’s long-delayed Zeroville, a star-studded film about Hollywood in 1969, not to be confused with Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which is also a star-studded film about Hollywood in 1969. That should make for an interesting double feature.
After his multiple Oscar nominations for Vice, Adam McKay is next attached to direct Bad Blood, another ripped-from-the-headlines story, this one about biotech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes. The film is supposed to star Jennifer Lawrence and Will Ferrell is also attached as a producer.
Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the movies coming to theaters this year, and let us know your favorite Will Ferrell and Adam McKay film in the comments below.
