Will Ferrell has said that he turned down $29 million to star in a sequel to festive hit Elf because he didn’t believe in its story.

The actor described the premise of the sequel to the 2003 film, which took over $222 million at the box office, as being too similar to the original.

• READ MORE: ‘Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga’ review: like ‘Glee’ on ketamine

“I would have had to promote the movie from an honest place, which would’ve been, like, ‘Oh no, it’s not good. I just couldn’t turn down that much money,’” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

“I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.’”

Ferrell has spoken out in the past about how he feared the Elf could ruin his career. As he appeared on The Late Late Show, Corden told Ferrell that it was a “brilliant film”, before asking if he had initial reservations.

“Yeah there were moments,” replied Ferrell. “The first two weeks of shooting were kind of all the exteriors in New York and so, you know, still kind of discovering what this movie’s going to be and running around New York City in yellow tights.

“People recognising me from Saturday Night Live going, ‘Are you okay? What’s going on?’ and thinking to myself this is either going to be a home run or people are going to go, ‘Whatever happened to you? Why did you do that one about the elf?’”