While in attendance at the junket for their delayed Three Stooges movie – which finally hits theaters this month – the Farrelly Brothers provided an update on another long-gestating, belated comedy project of theirs: Dumb and Dumber 2, a proper sequel to the filmmakers’ 1994 breakout hit starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as the incorrigibly dim-witted duo that is Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne.
Word got out last fall that a second Dumb and Dumber flick is being actively developed, with Carrey and Daniels both poised to reprise their iconic comical roles. According to the Farrellys, there is indeed some actual fire behind that particular cloud of smoke.
Peter Farrelly has revealed that production on Dumb and Dumber 2 is “set” to begin by September of this year, based on a script draft penned by writing duo Sean Anders and John Morris (She’s Out of My League, Hot Tub Time Machine). Similarly, both Carrey and Daniels are in line to return for the sequel, according to the slightly more “mature” (re: older) of the two Farrelly siblings.
Dumb and Dumber 2 is expected to catch up with Lloyd and Harry in real time, some 18 years after the events of its predecessor (a la Clerks 2 and this week’s American Reunion). As Bobby Farrelly has previously put it, the driving force behind this sequel will be to see “what those two dimwits would be doing twenty-years later in life” – and exploit it for maximum comedic effect, naturally.
It’s an idea that most fans (the Screen Rant staff included) have been cautiously optimistic about so far. That optimism stems from an enduring affection for the original Dumb and Dumber flick, while the caution is due to the poor track record of belated sequels – to say nothing of the Farrelly Brothers’ unmemorable output over the past decade (Fever Pitch, The Heartbreak Kid, Hall Pass).
Interestingly, while offering the Dumb and Dumber 2 production update, Peter Farrelly also took a moment to address the widely-disliked prequel Dumb and Dumber: When Harry Met Lloyd (which he and his brother were not involved with):
“We did not do ‘Dumb and Dumberer’. That was a studio thing. So we’ve always wanted to do a sequel and finally Jim [Carrey] called up. Jeff [Daniels] always wanted to do it. We always wanted to do it. Jim was busy, but he called and said, ‘We’ve got to do this thing again.’ He had just watched ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and he said, ‘This is the perfect sequel. Let’s do it.'”
Carrey, like the Farrellys, has been accused of running on fumes in some of his more recent comedy vehicles (Yes Man, Mr. Popper’s Penguins) and could make a return-to-form with Dumb and Dumber 2. That both he and the Farrellys have something to prove with the long-coming sequel should only help to ensure that it amounts to more than just a lackluster attempt to cash in on its predecessor’s enduring popularity.
We will continue to keep you up-to-date on the status of Dumb and Dumber 2 as more information is released.
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