'Daddy's Home' pits Ferrell versus Wahlberg as rivals

[December 10, 2015]   LONDON (Reuters) - Hollywood stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg reunite to play father figure rivals in "Daddy's Home", a movie the comedian joked offers an alternative to the "boring" special effects of the upcoming, highly-anticipated "Star Wars" film.

"Anchorman" actor Ferrell plays radio executive Brad who is stepfather to his wife's two children. When their father Dusty, portrayed by Mark Wahlberg, comes back into the fold, a rivalry between the two men soon develops.

"Well, this movie is great. It doesn't have all those boring special effects that 'Star Wars' has ... I mean after you've seen an hour of that you start to get a headache," Ferrell joked at the London premiere of the film on Wednesday night.

"This is just good, old-fashioned storytelling, great family fun, two-time nominated Oscar actor, producer Mark Wahlberg and I've been nominated for zero Oscars, but I'm going to get one with this one. Yeah."

Ferrell was referring to "Star wars: The Force Awakens" which premieres on Monday -- one of the most eagerly awaited movie releases this year. He and Wahlberg worked together on 2010 comedy "The Other Guys".

"It was just a matter of time before we got together again," Ferrell said. "This was ... a fun and different next chapter for us."

"Ted" and "Boogie Nights" actor Wahlberg said "Daddy's Home" was "a family film for everybody".

"There's a lot of stuff for parents ... but there's a lot of entertaining stuff for the kids as well," he said. "I haven't done too many films like that where both parents and children can share it."

"Daddy's Home" is released in U.S. cinemas on Dec 25, and the day after in Britain.

(Reporting By Francis Maguire; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian)

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