Well, here’s an early Christmas surprise: Jim Carrey and Ron Howard are teaming back up for a sequel to 2000’s live-action blockbuster movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
On June 18, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Universal and Imagine Entertainment were developing a sequel to the popular Grinch flick. More importantly, the outlet claims that Carrey is in talks to reprise his role as the famous Grinch. Meanwhile, Howard is producing and will also return to direct the upcoming sequel.
According to THR, the sequel doesn’t have a name yet. The script is being written by Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and David Mandel. The trio of writers previously worked together on the live-action adaptation of a different Dr. Seuss character, 2003’s The Cat in the Hat starring Mike Myers. The writers have also worked on projects like Barry, Dave, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Veep.
Previously, Jim Carrey (who is sort of retired, but comes back for Sonic movies every few years) has said that he would be down to play the Grinch again, but suggested using motion-capture instead of actually putting back on the infamous makeup and suit that made playing the Christmas-hating character miserable.
“It was an extremely excruciating process,” Carrey told Comicbook.com in 2024. “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.”
The original Grinch film starring Carrey was a success at the box office back in 2000, bringing in $345 million worldwide. Since then, the film has entered the culture’s Christmas Canon and has become a very popular flick to stream during the holiday season. Walton Goggins even dressed up as the Grinch last year to get some Walmart money. So it makes sense to try to cash in on that success while everyone involved is still alive and able. Will it be as good as the original? I’m not sure, but Christmas is a time of miracles…