Back in early April we learned that Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels would reunite for a sequel to “Dumb and Dumber”, which also happens to be my all-time favorite comedy. Frankly I was surprised that it took this long to get a sequel to the first film - it's not like either Carrey or Daniels have been overly busy as of late, especially Daniels. But according to Entertainment Tonight, Jim Carrey has decided to back out of the project due to his frustrations with New Line Cinemas and Warner Bros. apparent lack of interest in the project. When ET asked Carrey’s publicist to confirm the story, they got this quote:
"I would have thought Dumb and Dumber Two was a no-brainer, after all it's implied in the title."Read more after the break.
With Carrey jumping ship, there’s no telling whether the studio will try and continue plans with the movie. I can’t imagine why they would; if they weren’t thrilled about the film with both Carrey and Daniels on board, then why would they be now that their biggest star is out?
It’s really too bad, both the Farrelly brothers, who were directing the first film, and Carrey have been on quite a bit of a cold streak as of late. Whenever these guys had teamed up in the past though, it had resulted in some of their best work. I also was really looking forward to seeing Jeff Daniels get back into the spotlight.
You know what really chaps my ass though, is the fact that he is leaving due to a lack of interest from the studio. Whenever we hear something like that, it only means one thing: money. Apparently the studio doesn’t think this project would bring the type of money that would warrant really getting behind it. I’m not sure what they are so worried about, "Dumb and Dumber" raked in $247 million worldwide at the box office, $127 million domestically. This day in age, if a film earns $100 million total, its almost guaranteed to get a sequel. Yet apparently New Line and Warner Bros. don’t think its a safe enough bet? This is the same studio that has produced FOUR “Final Destination” sequels that have earned an average of $52 million each. It’s the same company that rolled out the two Harold and Kumar sequels that between the two of them earned a whopping $78 million, and that’s worldwide gross.
Now we get to start playing the waiting game to see how the studio responds. Will they give into Carrey’s wishes and really get behind it or will the film get scrapped altogether? I would hope they wouldn’t be dumb enough to try and make the film without Carrey, we all know how that turned out last time.
What does everyone think, will this film ever see the light of day?