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As a comedian who has etched his own path in the world of comedy with wry humor and at times over-dramatized antics, Will Ferrell is definitely in a class all his own! The comedian has also excelled as a writer and producer besides his acting career and has been the producer, screenwriter, and executive producer for a number of films, such as Step Brothers (2008) where he starred beside Joh C. Reilly as well as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). Beginning his professional career in 1991, he is recorded as having close to 80 movies under his belt, with his most recent being in 2020 called Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, starring Rachel McAdams and Pierce Brosnan. Here are ten of Elf's highest-grossing movies of all time.
The Lego Movie
Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in 2014, The Lego Movie was the first installment of the movie franchise and, as the title describes, is centered around the Lego brand of construction toys. The film follows a superweapon called "The Kragle" that the wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) fails to protect from Lord Business (Will Ferrell), who is an evil businessman in charge of the Octan Corporation, also called the President Business. However, Vitruvius gives a prophecy of a person called "The Special" who will find the Piece of Resistance and stop the Kragle. Years later, Emmett Brickowski (Chris Pratt) finds the Piece of Resistance on a job site after meeting Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) who is also looking for the Piece of Resistance. Together, they must resist capture from Lord Business and Bad Cop (Liam Neeson) in order to out the Piece of Resistance (a tube cap) on the Kragen (a Krazy Glue tube). Ending in metaphoric suspense, the film grossed $468.08 million globally.
Megamind
Will Ferrell built his reputation doing various impersonations of celebrities such as George Bush, Robert Goulet, Neil Diamond, Jesse Ventura, and even Fidel Castro while on Saturday Night Live. After such brazen performances, one would think the last place he would end up was on a computer-animated superhero comedy film like 2010's Megamind. The film follows a Supervillain named Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Metroman (Brad Pitt), his arch-nemesis, who are both sent to earth as alien infant-refugees from their dying planets. Although similar in backstory, the two are very different - Metro Man is raised in a mansion, while Megamind is raised by prisoners. Fueled by hatred and envy for Metroman, Megamind lures Metro Man into a trap by kidnapping Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey), which he falls into. He weakens Metro Man and eventually blasts him with a sun-powered gun, disintegrating him. With Metro Man gone, he has free reign to destroy the city, But after his evil plans backfire, in a twist of fate, he becomes the very hero he despises. The film grossed $321.8 million worldwide.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
If there's one comedian that has turned a spy comedy into a multi-million dollar franchise that keeps fans wanting more in Mike Myers. In 1999, the second installment of his franchise, The Spy Who Shagged Me, was released, starring Heather Graham, Rob Lowe, and Mindy Sterling. The film begins with Austin Powers (Mike Myers) on a honeymoon with his newlywed wife, Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley), who turned out to be a fembot controlled by Dr. Evil (also Mike Myers). But he has more to consider, as Dr. Evil and Mini-me have created a time machine in order to return to the past and steal Austin Powers' mojo, his sex appeal. Along with his new girlfriend, Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham), they must prevent Dr. Evil's plan to destroy the moon as well as retrieve Austin's mojo. Ferrell plays the role of Mustafa, one of Dr. Evil's henchmen. On a budget of $33 million, the film did exceptionally well by grossing $312.3 million.
Wedding Crashers
To this day, Wedding Crashers remains one of the most entertaining movies of all time with a legendary cast of celebrities. As despicable as it may seem, John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) work as divorce mediators who have mastered the art of crashing weddings to meet and sleep with women. When they visit the wedding of the eldest daughter of the U.S Secretary of The Treasury, William Cleary (Christopher Walken), they target the bride's younger sisters, Claire (Rachel Adams) and Gloria (Isla Fisher). Jeremy scores with Gloria, who becomes possessive. But John is captivated by Rachel. However, she has a tempestuous boyfriend, Sack Lodge (Bradley Cooper), who continually tries to sabotage John and Claire's time together. Lodge does some digging and finds out more about John and Jeremy, exposing them as frauds. Claire feels betrayed and William asks them to leave. While John is lamenting Claire, he accompanies his friend, Chazz Reinhold (Will Ferrell) to crash a funeral. He comes to appreciate true love after seeing a widow grieve and goes to confess his love to Claire. The comical film grossed $283.2 million.
Daddy's Home
When you're a stepdad trying to be the best for his stepchildren but you get up-ended by their biological father, it can leave a bitter taste in your mouth. This was exactly the plight of nice-guy Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) in Daddy's Home when he agreed to parent the two kids of his wife, Sara Whitaker (Linda Cardellini), Megan Mayron (Scarlett Estevez), and Dylan Mayron (Owen Vaccaro). When their dad, Dusty Mayron (Mark Wahlberg) swings back into town, his bad-boy persona and intimidating physique immediately put Brad on edge. The silent one-upmanship competition between the two of them could be seen in Dusty building Dylan's treehouse with him and getting a dog for the children to win brownie points. Brad is aware that Dusty's real mission is to drive him away from the home and slip back in to claim Sara as his own. However, they come to an agreement when Dusty realizes being a committed parent is harder than he once thought, and he moves in next door after remarrying the sexy and beautiful Karen (Alessandra Ambrosio). The film grossed $241.5 million worldwide.
Elf
When it was mentioned that Ferrell is known for his over-the-top antics which happen to be hilarious, an example of that can be seen in the Christmas comedy, Elf, released in 2003. The film features Ferrell as a freakishly tall elf named Buddy who, on Christmas Eve, crawled into Santa Claus' sack from an adoption home and was taken back to the North Pole. Despite being the tallest elf in Santa's workshop as he grew, he was raised as an elf and believes he is one. One day, Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) explains to Buddy that he was put up for adoption after his mother died, and his biological father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan) now works as a children's book publisher in New York. Buddy goes to reconcile with Walter after revealing himself as his son. After a DNA test proving Buddy's declaration, he takes him home to meet his stepmother Emily (Mary Steenburgen) and half-brother Michael (Daniel Tay), eventually restoring the meaning of Christmas to their home. On a budget of $33 million, the movie grossed $222.3 million worldwide.
Daddy's Home 2
Two years after the release of Daddy's Home in 2015, the world's favorite and slightly awkward co-dad team was back at it again in the Christmas comedy, Daddy's Home 2 (2017). The film continues from where it left off with Dusty (Mark Wahlberg), who is married to the sexy and accomplished doctor/novelist, Karen (Alessandra Ambrosio), and Dylan (Will Ferrell) sharing equal time with their children as they live opposite each other. Christmas is near, and Dusty's fighter pilot father, Kurt (Mel Gibson), and Brad's fun-loving father, Don (John Lithgow) both unexpectedly show up. At the request of their daughter, Megan, the two families plan a joint Christmas as one big family. However, the one-upmanship between Dusty and Brad is now being displayed between Kurt and Don, which makes for a very eventful Christmas celebration. Due to an amazing blend of actors and non-stop entertainment, the film grossed $175.8 million.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
The sequel for Anchorman was almost never brought to fruition as the comedy was first rejected by Paramount Pictures before finally getting the green light in 2012. Following the critical and financial success of the first film in 2008, Will Ferrel reprised his role as Ruben Burgandy. He is married to Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) and they are anchors at the same news network in New York. When Ruben learns that the network's star anchor, Mark Tannen (Harrison Ford) is resigning and plans to promote Veronica as the first female nightly news anchor in history, he boils with jealousy and leaves his wife with 6-year old son. After a time of depression over his wife's success, Ruben gets offered a job at GNN by Freddie Shall (Dylan Baker) which rewards him fame and fortune, causing him to neglect his role as a father. He later quits the entertainment-driven GNN network and returns to his family. On a budget of $50 million, the comedy grossed $172.24 million.
The Other Guys
Directed by Allen McKay, making it the fifth movie the director has worked on with Will Ferrell, The Other Guys is a buddy cop comedy film released in 2010. Regarded as the worst detectives of the New York City Police Department, Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz ( Mark Wahlberg) are an unlikely pair of polar opposites - Allen being gentle and mild-mannered while Terry is a raging bull! Following the questionable deaths of supposedly the best detective duo on the force, Christopher Danson (Dwayne Johnson) and P.K Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson), Allen and Terry do some investigating into multi-billionaire, Sir David Ershon (Steve Coogan). Other celebrity features include Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, and Ray Stevenson. The film grossed a total of $170.9 million worldwide.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
It's no surprise that Adam McKay was once again the director of this 2006 sports comedy film, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The film follows Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell), a man so destined for the racetrack that he was born in the backseat of a racing car with his father, Reese (Gary Cole) at the wheel. Bobby's racing talent is recognized one day while working on the pit crew of Dennit Racing driver Terry Cheveaux, who Boby drove for while he saw it fit to take a bathroom break in last place. Bobby became an overnight success after coming third in that race, a met his wife, Carley (Leslie Bibb), at the same time. However, when an openly gay driver named Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen) is added as the new team member, he quickly outshines Bobby and his best friend, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly). Bobby's performance worsens, his wife leaves him for his best friend, Naughton, and he hit rock bottom, to the point of riding a bicycle to deliver pizzas. He must re-learn driving and reclaim his name. The film grossed $162.87 million against a $72.5 million budget.
Sources: rogerebert.com, archive.nytimes.com, usmagazine.com, www.collider.com, raisingchildren.net