A collaboration for the ages. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay have produced tons of comedy classics together, but their partnership — and their friendship — came to a halt in 2019.
The duo first connected while working at Saturday Night Live in the mid-1990s. Ferrell joined the show as a cast member in September 1995 for the series’ 21st season, while McKay came on board as a writer.
The Big Short director originally auditioned for an onscreen role on the long-running NBC variety show, but he was offered a role as a writer instead. He became head writer at age 27 within one year of joining the crew.
Ferrell, meanwhile, became one of SNL‘s biggest stars of all time, appearing in classic sketches where he played characters including Alex Trebek and Craig the Spartan cheerleader. After he left the show in 2002, he reunited with McKay, who’d left the previous year, to work on feature films.
Their first project together was 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, which became an instant hit with its quotable lines and hilarious cast. The movie was so beloved by fans that the duo decided to make a sequel nearly a decade later.
“Wherever we were in the world, whatever we were promoting, the last round of the interview was always, ‘Can I ask you a few questions about Anchorman? Will there ever be a sequel?'” Ferrell told The Guardian in December 2013, explaining why the producing partners decided to make 2013’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. “So, eventually Adam and I were like, ‘Why not? We love this character.'”
Over the next six years, however, their prolific partnership came to a halt. In April 2019, the pair decided to dissolve their company, Gary Sanchez Productions, after nearly 15 years, announcing that all projects in production at the time would be completed.
Six months later, McKay struck out on his own with Hyperobject Industries, while Ferrell proceeded with Gloria Sanchez Productions, which was originally spun off from Gary Sanchez to produce female-focused work.
In October 2021, the Blades of Glory star explained that one reason for the split was his former partner’s ambition to keep growing Gary Sanchez into a Hollywood empire. “Adam was like, ‘I want to do this, and this, and this’; he wanted growth and a sphere of influence, and I was just like, ‘I don’t know, that sounds like a lot that I have to keep track of,’” Ferrell told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “To me, the potential of seeing a billboard, and being like, ‘Oh, we’re producing that?’ I don’t know. … At the end of the day, we just have different amounts of bandwidth.”
Keep scrolling for a look back at McKay and Ferrell’s ups and downs over the years:
The comedy partners met while working at SNL in the '90s. After the show was almost canceled following season 20, McKay and Ferrell helped revitalize its appeal along with new cast members Darrell Hammond, Cheri Oteri and David Koechner and new writers Steve Higgins, Paula Pell and Colin Quinn. Carolyn Contino/BEI/Shutterstock
The pair's first collaboration after their SNL exit, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, raked in more than $90 million at the box office and became a fan favorite, landing on several lists of best comedies of all time. Dreamworks/Apatow Prod/Kobal/Shutterstock
McKay and Ferrell officially founded Gary Sanchez Productions, named after a fictional character, the "Paraguayan entrepreneur and financier" named Gary Sanchez. The company went on to produce films including Step Brothers, The Other Guys, The Campaign, Tammy, Daddy's Home and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock
McKay and Ferrell followed up the success of the first Anchorman with Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, featuring cameos from Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Liam Neeson, Kanye West, Drake, Jim Carrey and many more. Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock
Holmes & Watson, starring Will Ferrell as Sherlock Holmes and John C. Reilly as Dr. John Watson, premiered after years of being stuck in development, but it bombed at the box office. McKay, who helped edit the film, later told Vanity Fair that the "thing was just in rough shape" when he was brought in to work on it. COLUMBIA/Moviestore/Shutterstock
After expanding to produce TV shows, including Succession and Motherland: Fort Salem, the twosome decided to dissolve Gary Sanchez. “The two of us will always work together creatively and always be friends," they said in a joint statement at the time. "And we recognize we are lucky as hell to end this venture as such.” Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
McKay cast Reilly in his still-untitled HBO limited series about the Los Angeles Lakers. The Vice director later pointed to this incident as the one that caused the end of his friendship with Ferrell months after they ended their business partnership. Matt Sayles/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
McKay launched his own production company, Hyperobject Industries, and entered into a five-year first-look deal to develop content with HBO and HBO Max. Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
During an interview with Vanity Fair, McKay explained why he thought the Reilly casting in the Lakers series hurt his relationship with Ferrell. The Stranger Than Fiction star first found out about the news via Reilly, who called him to let him know that he'd gotten the part. “I f—ked up on how I handled that,” McKay explained. “It’s the old thing of keep your side of the street clean. I should have just done everything by the book.” The director claimed that he's since reached out to his former comedy partner, but Ferrell hasn't returned his messages. “[He] took it as a way deeper hurt than I ever imagined and I tried to reach out to him, and I reminded him of some slights that were thrown my way that were never apologized for," McKay said. “The whole time it was like I was saying it out loud, ‘Let’s not become an episode of Behind the Music. Don’t let it happen.’ And it happened.” Victoria Will/Invision/AP/Shutterstock (2)
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