Will Ferrell drops out of Reagan ‘Alzheimer’s comedy’

“The ‘Reagan’ script is one of a number of scripts that had been submitted to Will Ferrell which he had considered,” a Ferrell spokesman told the New York Post’s Page Six. “While it is by no means an ‘Alzheimer’s comedy’ as has been suggested, Mr. Ferrell is not pursuing this project.”

It was announced Wednesday that Ferrell would play the Gipper in a film about, according to Variety, “an ambitious intern [who] is tasked with convincing the commander in chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie.”

A source told Page Six that the Black List script “wasn’t a complete project because there was no financing, and no director attached. Will considered the movie, but ultimately decided not to do it.”

The move drew controversy, particulary from Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis, who felt making light of her father’s deteriorating state during his final years was not in good taste.

“I watched as fear invaded my father’s eyes — this man who was never afraid of anything,” Davis wrote in a Thursday blog post. “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.”

“Perhaps you have managed to retain some ignorance about Alzheimer’s and other versions of dementia,” she added. “Perhaps if you knew more, you would not find the subject humorous.”

Reagan’s son Michael tweeted his disgust with the project yesterday.

He tweeted out his delight in Ferrell exiting the film Friday.