Adam McKay Reflects on His Split with Will Ferrell: Past, Present, and Possible Future

Adam McKay told Business Insider that he remains “totally open to the idea” of working again with Will Ferrell. Their partnership ended in 2019 when they dissolved the Gary Sanchez production company they founded in 2006. McKay identified the company’s closure as the primary source of acrimony, while Ferrell later cited “bandwidth” concerns stemming from McKay’s expanding producing duties. A further point of tension was McKay’s decision to cast John C. Reilly as Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss in HBO’s *Winning Time*, a role originally intended for Ferrell.

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From 2006 onward, McKay and Ferrell co-produced a string of commercially successful comedies, including *Anchorman*, *Talladega Nights*, and *Step Brothers*. Their joint venture, Gary Sanchez, served as the production banner for these projects and helped shape early-2000s American comedy.

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• 2006 – Gary Sanchez production company launched.

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• 2006-2018 – Release of *Anchorman*, *Talladega Nights*, *Step Brothers*, among other titles.

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• 2019 – Decision to end Gary Sanchez; final phone call between McKay and Ferrell ends abruptly.

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• Oct 2021 – Ferrell tells *The Hollywood Reporter* that limited “bandwidth” prompted his split.

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• 2022 – McKay’s *Vanity Fair* interview reveals the *Winning Time* casting dispute.

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• June 2026 – McKay discusses the split on the 20th anniversary of *Talladega Nights*; the film returns to theaters on June 28, June 30, and July 1.

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McKay emphasized that the duo “always got along great” and described their collaboration as “tremendous.” He framed the end of Gary Sanchez as the sole source of tension and expressed regret over handling the Reilly casting “by the book.” Ferrell, speaking to *The Hollywood Reporter*, attributed his departure to the workload required to track McKay’s expanding projects, characterizing it as a bandwidth issue.

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Ferrell’s account suggests that McKay’s unilateral casting decision breached trust, contributing to personal hurt beyond the business split. McKay himself acknowledged mishandling the situation, stating, “I should have called him and I didn’t,” and admitting that his actions “fucked up.”

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• Cause of split: McKay cites the dissolution of Gary Sanchez; Ferrell points to bandwidth constraints.

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• Impact of casting decision: McKay frames it as a procedural error; Ferrell’s perspective on the specific incident is not directly quoted.

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• Current communication: No public comment from Ferrell regarding the 2026 interview, leaving the status of their personal relationship unclear.

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• “I totally have been open to the idea. We always got along great, we were tremendous creative partners,” — Adam McKay

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• “The only thing that caused acrimony between us was when we decided to end our production company, Gary Sanchez.” — Adam McKay

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• “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.’” — Will Ferrell

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• “I should have called him and I didn’t,” — Adam McKay

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• “And Reilly did, of course, because Reilly, he’s a stand-up guy…I fucked up on how I handled that. It’s the old thing of keep your side of the street clean. I should have just done everything by the book.” — Adam McKay

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• “The reason we went and did ‘Step Brothers’ next was we felt like, can we just go do comedy in a house? We were tired after ‘Talladega Nights.’ It never got to the point where we wrote a treatment.” — Adam McKay

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The 20th-anniversary theatrical run of *Talladega Nights* offers a public reminder of the duo’s past success. McKay indicated that a sequel concept—featuring Ricky Bobby in Formula 1—was explored but abandoned due to production complexity. While no concrete collaboration has been announced, McKay’s expressed openness leaves the possibility of future joint projects unresolved.

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