Many Jim Carrey fans have been calling for a sequel to 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas ever since the holiday classic’s original release. Nearly three decades later, it’s finally happening.
Per THR, it’s been revealed that Carrey is in talks to revisit his live-action version of the Grinch in an official sequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Carrey is one of three names attached to the original that’s returning for the new film. From Universal Pictures, the sequel will also bring back Ron Howard to direct and produce alongside his Imagine Entertainment partner, Brian Grazer.
The Grinch Eyes a Return After Nearly 3 Decades
The sequel, which is currently untitled, is being scripted by Curb Your Enthusiasm writers Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and David Mandel. All three also have experience with Dr. Seuss adaptations, as they worked on 2003’s The Cat in the Hat with Mike Myers. Dr. Seuss Enterprises CEO Susan Brandt is overseeing the new movie, alongside Universal’s senior VP of production development and special projects, Britt Hennemuth, and creative executive Christina Hoffrogge.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is among the most successful and beloved holiday movies of all time. Upon its release in 2000, it made $260 million domestically, which was the highest of any film that year. It made $351 million globally. It became an Oscar-winning picture as well, as Rick Baker and Gail Rowell-Ryan won the Academy Award for Best Makeup for how they transformed Carrey into the Grinch. Notably, this was not fun for Carrey at all, who has since revealed he thought about quitting the production due to the grueling makeup process, which lasted about eight hours per day.
Jim Carrey Only Acts Seldomly in Recent Years
Carrey is semi-retired these days, and he’s only acted in the Sonic the Hedgehog movies in recent years. However, he did express his desire to revisit the Grinch in a 2024 interview with ComicBook. At that time, he reflected on how “excruciating” it was to endure the makeup process, but hinted that there may be a way to make it more tolerable for a sequel using modern filmmaking techniques. It could be presumed that this is part of the negotiations that Carrey is having to secure his return to the role.
“Oh, gosh, you know, if we could figure out the Grinch,” he said. “The thing about it is, on the day, I do that with a ton of makeup and can hardly breathe. It was an extremely excruciating process. The children were in my mind all the time. ‘It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids. It’s for the kids.’ And now, with motion capture and things like that, I could be free to do other things. Anything is possible in this world.”
A release date has not yet been set for the sequel to How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
- Release Date
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November 17, 2000
- Runtime
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104 Minutes
- Director
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Ron Howard
