The first trailer for Ryan Reynold's and Will Ferrell's Christmas musical update of A Christmas Carol has dropped, and it looks like it's going to be a merry old time. Spirited is a festive film and modern telling of the classic tale of Scrooge and the ghostly visitations he received in the Charles Dickens tale.
Spirited stars Reynolds as Clint Briggs, a Scrooge for the modern age, Ferrell as Present, and Octavia Spencer in a currently unnamed role, while Sunita Mari will portray Past. Apple TV Plus released the Spirited trailer on their social media accounts and on YouTube, while Reynolds announced the trailer in his usual style on his own accounts.
As is customary for Reynolds, he continued his ongoing back and forth with past and future Deadpool 3 co-star Hugh Jackman by posting the Spirited trailer with the caption, "Happy Birthday, Hugh. This year, I’m giving you the gift of being much worse than you at singing and dancing. But at least there’s Will and Octavia!" It is, in fact, Jackman's 54th birthday. The Spirited trailer offers a good look at the song and dance aspects of the film, beginning with a silhouette of Reynolds and Ferrell tap dancing, which is not dissimilar to the old iPod commercials. It's then revealed that they appear to be in Dickensian times and like the movie Enchanted, the pair reference how strange it is that they both knew the dance routine.
The short Spirited preview also offers a look at further dance routines and some interesting scenes and effects. This includes one that appears to be disintegrating as Reynolds is blown backward and a glimpse of what appears to be a chained ghost and an ominous hooded grim reaper figure who is likely the Ghost of Christmas Future. Of course, Ferrell is no stranger to Christmas movies with his film Elf continually topping lists as one of the best Christmas movies of all time.
“Each Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Christmas Present (Will Ferrell) selects one dark soul to be reformed by a visit from three spirits. But this season, he picked the wrong Scrooge, Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds) turns the tables on his ghostly host until Present finds himself reexamining his own past, present, and future," reads the official Spirited synopsis. "For the first time, A Christmas Carol is told from the perspective of the ghosts in this hilarious musical twist on the classic Dickens tale.”
Spirited is directed by Sean Anders and John Morris, with the pair also penning the script based on the original Dickens novel. Ferrell and Reynolds also serve as producers of the movie. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the composers behind La La Land, have contributed new music to the soundtrack.
Spirited releases in theaters on November 11 and lands on Apple TV Plus on November 18, 2022.
Source: Apple TV Plus/YouTube