For the past several decades, Jim Carrey been has been known for playing wacky slapstick roles, using the most extreme facial contortions and amping up his energy levels up a thousand in the process. Carrey’s best movies, like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Liar, Liar are perfect examples of his talents. Given his comedic gifts and Hollywood’s recent interest in reboots, spinoffs, and sequels, one might wonder what if there’s a chance he’ll revisit characters like these. Now, Carey has shared thoughts on what it would take for him to reprise such roles.
In the past, the former In Living Color actor has considered taking on sequels to movie like Bruce Almighty and Dumb and Dumber, with the latter ultimately coming to fruition in 2014. So could more follow-ups to his other franchises be on the way? In an interview with E! News’ Daily Pop, Jim Carrey explained that any decision to revive one of his memorable roles would be predicated on a director coming up with a brand-new take:
I think after the fact, when there’s been a lot of years, unless some genius person, director, auteur, comes to you with a completely new take on what’s going on—like, if Chris Nolan came to me and said, ‘I wanna make Ace Ventura real, and I wanna do something more interesting,’ then I might listen.
It’s fair to say that Jim Carrey is usually not one to do sequels. Over the years, he’s been candid about his belief that follow-ups are made for business purposes and are merely about imitating work that’s been done before. It’s true that second installments can absolutely vary in quality in relation to their predecessors. Carrey’s sequel to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective currently has a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, for example. (Maybe When Nature Calls would have been a different film if the star didn’t turn down one acclaimed director for the gig?)
Dumber and Dumber To, released twenty years after the previous film, was negatively received as well. It’s hard to say exactly why follow-ups don’t work, but some, like myself, would argue that it’s due to studios sometimes being more focused on the IPs themselves than crafting a quality story.
Despite the comedic actor shying away from sequels, he did return for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, in which he reprised the villainous Dr. Robotnik. His reasoning for this move was a desire to entertain his young viewer audience and because “there was something sweet about this movie.” Luckily, this latest sequel has worked out in his favor, as it currently has a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes as a result of mostly positive reviews. And as you’d expect, a third Sonic movie is on the way,
Unfortunately, we may not see Jim Carrey return as The Mask, Ace Ventura, or Robotnik anytime soon, though, as he may have plans to quit acting. While the chances of him appearing in a legacy sequel are slim, let’s hope someone (like a Christopher Nolan) could entice him to return for more.
In the meantime, you can head to theaters now to see Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which is part of CinemaBlend’s list of 2022 new movie releases.