Jim Carrey is in talks to reteam with director Ron Howard and Universal Pictures on a sequel to 2000s holiday classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the adaptation of the 1957 children’s book by Dr Seuss.
No deal is done, but Jim Carrey is in talks to reprise his role as the classic Dr. Seuss character the Grinch, with Howard producing alongside his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer.
The untitled sequel will have a script by Alec Berg (Barry, Silicon Valley, Curb Your Enthusiasm), Jeff Schaffer (Life, Larry and The Pursuit of Unhappiness, Dave, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and David Mandel (Veep, Curb Your Enthusiasm). The trio also worked on the 2003 Seuss adaptation The Cat in the Hat starring Mike Myers.
Dr Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas follows a grumpy green recluse who sets out to ruin Christmas for the Whos of Whoville, only to have a profound change of heart. Inspired by Dr Seuss’s own unhappiness over the increasing commercialisation of Christmas, the book was a critical success and CBS made it as a 1966 animated special, with Boris Karloff voicing the narrator and The Grinch. Co-director Chuck Jones opted to make the Grinch green, a departure from the book’s black and white.
The 2000 movie has become a durable hit on streaming, and has been among Nielsen’s top 10 most streamed holiday movies in each of the last five years. And, last year in the two weeks ahead of and after Christmas (Dec. 15-Dec. 28), it peaked at No. 2 overall on the movies chart with 962 million minutes viewed, just below the perennial No. 1 champ Home Alone. Notably, Carrey’s Grinch movie also ranked ahead of the 2018 animated movie in those key two weeks on last year’s holiday streaming ratings chart. That Illumination and Universal feature, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, hit No. 8 in the week ahead of Dec. 25.
Carrey’s potential return for a sequel comes as a surprise, as he’d been vocal about his discomfort with the prosthetics required by the original film. The process took around eight hours a day, and Carrey has recalled it being extremely difficult. It reached the point when he wanted to quit on day one of production and return his $20 million fee. He got through it with the help of a man who trained CIA agents to withstand torture, as well as thanks to the makeup eventually being reduced to three hours a day. It ultimately home Academy Award for the best makeup for Rick Baker and Gail Rowell-Ryan, who transformed Carrey for the role.
It is still uncertain whether Taylor Momsen (Little Cindy Lou-Who), Christina Baranski (Martha May-Who), and the cast members of the original film will be returning as well. Either way, expect laughs and good cheer from Whoville’s cuddly as a cactus Mr Grinch.
