Will Ferrell won't be portraying a declining Ronald Reagan in the political comedy "Reagan" after all. Following reports last week that the comic actor had signed on to produce and star in the film -- followed swiftly by outcry from the Reagan family and others blasting the film for what they say is insensitivity -- Ferrell is backing away from the project, the New York Posts' Page Six is reporting, citing a representative for the actor.
"The 'Reagan' script is one of a number of scripts that had been submitted to Will Ferrell which he had considered," the rep is quoted as saying. "While it is by no means an 'Alzheimer's comedy' as has been suggested, Mr. Ferrell is not pursuing this project."
Written by Mike Rosolio, "Reagan" focuses on a White House intern tasked with convincing the president and former actor -- who is portrayed as already being in decline at the film's start, which picks up at the beginning of his second term -- that he is merely playing the part of the commander-in-chief in a movie.
While the film has garnered enough interest in Hollywood to land it near the top of the 2015 Black List, an annual ranking of the best unproduced screenplays in town, it has also prompted no small amount of outrage. That includes from Reagan's daughter Patti Davis, who said Alzheimer's is no laughing matter.
"Perhaps if you knew more, you would not find the subject humorous," Davis wrote last week in an open letter to Ferrell on her website. "Alzheimer's doesn't care if you are President of the United States or a dockworker. It steals what is most precious to a human being — memories, connections, the familiar landmarks of a lifetime that we all come to rely on to hold our place secure in this world and keep us linked to those we have come to know and love. I watched as fear invaded my father's eyes — this man who was never afraid of anything. I heard his voice tremble as he stood in the living room and said, 'I don't know where I am.' I watched helplessly as he reached for memories, for words, that were suddenly out of reach and moving farther away. For ten long years he drifted — past the memories that marked his life, past all that was familiar...and mercifully, finally past the fear
"There was laughter in those years, but there was never humor."
Will Ferrell as declining Reagan: Good fun or poor taste?
The political comedy 'Reagan' will tell the story of an intern tasked with convincing the 40th president that his is an actor playing a role.
A former actor, Ronald Reagan was America's 40th president, serving from 1981 to 1989. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease eight years later, in 1994.
"I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life," he said in an emotional speech announcing his diagnosis.
Reagan, who is celebrated as an icon of conservative ideals, died in 2004 at the age of 93.
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