Following its release, Elf has been considered a Christmas classic. This is most likely due to Will Ferrell’s portrayal of the main character, Buddy. While it's difficult to imagine the movie without Ferrell in the role, apparently, it wasn't originally meant for him. That’s right: the role was meant to be played by Jim Carrey.
The script for Elf was originally written in 1993, but the movie took ten years to actually get produced. The script was written specifically for Carrey, but he turned down the role for other business ventures. He missed out on millions of dollar ultimately, as the film made $220 million at the box office. It’s said that Ferrell was even offered $29 million to shoot a sequel, but quickly shot down the offer. He was worried that it would receive bad reviews.
Even though Jim Carrey missed out on Elf, he still took part in a classic when he played the Grinch. The question is, which of those two films is better?
[Via]