U2 guitarist The Edge wrote a complete script for a sequel to “Elf,” according to actor Andy Richter, but the film never reached production. Richter, who played Morris in the 2003 holiday comedy, shared the story on “Obsessed: The Podcast.” The producer Shauna Robertson, who worked on the original, was in Europe on another film when she got word that the musician had finished a sequel screenplay and wanted to talk. She agreed to a meeting, Richter said, and the effort faded without result.
“Apparently it was fully written,” Richter said, adding that he would love to see the script surface. Where it ended up remains unclear. The Edge, whose real name is David Howell Evans, has not publicly addressed the claim, and U2 representatives have offered no comment.
The musician’s script was not the only sequel attempt. Richter said Scot Armstrong, a writer who contributed uncredited work to the original “Elf” under guild rules, also drafted a follow-up. That version involved evil South Pole elves kidnapping Santa, he said. Neither project advanced to a shoot.
Richter does not mourn the lost sequels. He has argued that the film’s reputation has grown so strong that anyone touching it risks damage, and he said he sits on the side of leaving it alone. “Let Elf be Elf,” he said, adding that a story does not need every part of it used. The original, directed by Jon Favreau and starring Will Ferrell as a human raised among Santa’s workers, has become a seasonal staple that studios have tried to extend without success for two decades.
The detail lands as an unusual entry on The Edge’s résumé. The guitarist has scored films and television and helped write the music for “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” the Broadway musical whose troubled run drew wide coverage. A screenplay for a Christmas comedy would stretch that range in a new direction, though no one outside the project has read the pages.
Specifics remain thin. Richter’s account is secondhand, relayed from a message to Robertson, and he did not describe the plot, the timing or who approached whom. Warner Bros., which released the original through New Line Cinema, has not commented on any sequel script.
