Did you like The Muppet Christmas Carol but wish it had fewer puppets? Did you like Scrooged but would you like him to have more songs? Did you like Christmas Carol from 2009 but wish it had fewer CGI renditions of nightmare Jim Carrey? Then Spirited is the movie for you. The new film musical Spirited is a version of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic, starring Will Ferrell, Octavia Spencer and Ryan Reynolds, and offers a new modern twist to the story. Spirited today released its first trailer for Apple TV +.
In Spirited, Reynolds plays Clint Briggs, a gruff rich man who clearly knows the story of A Christmas Carol and doesn’t seem to want to be taken on an enlightening journey through Christmas by the ghost of the Christmas present, played by Ferrell. In fact, it turns out that the person who may need help is the ghost himself, as Clint turns the tables on him and starts a Christmas present quiz instead. You see, the wealthy elite are actually a bunch of good guys who might even help save Christmas itself.
Obviously, the real reason we’re tuning into Spirited is to see Reynolds and Ferrell do a raffle, which is what this trailer is all about. There is very little plot here, other than showing us that this is indeed a Christmas Carol riff and that at some point there will be singing and dancing, not to mention some appearances from the other Ghosts of Christmas. It’s not entirely clear who Octavia Spencer will play, but she could hold her own in the witty repertoire department. The film also stars Sunita Mani, Patrick Page, Joe Tippett, Marlow Barkley and Jen Tullock.
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The film is directed by Sean Anders and co-written by Anders and John Morris, both of whom are primarily known for really silly comedies, so it’s not all that exciting. However, the music is by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who did La La Land, and that movie had Oscar-winning music. So at least we’re going to get some solid Christmas jingles out of the movie, even if it ends up being crap.
Spirited will be released in theaters on November 11 and on Apple TV + on November 18.
