In the long line of remakes, reboots and delayed sequels, Dumb & Dumber 2 (which might go by the more inspired title of Dumb & Dumber Too) was a diamond in the rough. Nearly two decades have passed since the Farrelly Brothers partnered with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels to create a comedy classic, but recent news that the directors and stars were all game for a sequel gave the project an authenticity fans could happily get behind.
Things took a downward turn when the joyous news of Dumb & Dumber 2's existence was derailed by a later update from Carrey that Warner Bros./New Line was dragging their collective feet on a greenlight and funding, causing Carrey to step away from the project. However, according to the other half of the D&D team - actor Jeff Daniels - the sequel may not be as dead as everyone has been fearing...
Daniels is currently promoting his HBO drama series The Newsroom (from Oscar-winning writer Aaron Sorkin), and the actor talked about Dumb & Dumber Too with Crave Online during a Television Critics Association panel. According to Daniels, the Dumb & Dumber sequel is showing sure signs of life:
“Oh sure, even more so now... Jim wants to do it. I want to do it. The Farrellys want to do it. They want to rewrite the script a little bit and they aren’t trying to jam it in before I have to go back and do ‘Newsroom’ in November. So they’re going, ‘Why don’t we just do it right? Let’s get everybody organized to go next May or June.’ If everything works out on the business side, that’s what we’ll do but I think there’s more hope than ever.”
Regarding Carrey's involvement: Daniels went on to say that Carrey indeed got frustrated with being held in abeyance by the studio, but that doesn't mean the comedian has walked away from the project. In fact, he's just waiting for all parties to settle on a start date:
“....this has been a year and a half of a whole bunch of are we, aren’t we, what’s going on, yeah the script’s funny, no it’s not, now we have to have notes. So I think Jim just got frustrated and I completely got it. I was frustrated too. We thought it was in pretty good shape. The studio and others wanted some more work done it. The Farrellys wanted more work done on it so they got working on it and I think last week they decided to push the shooting of it to next year, possibly because I wasn’t going to move ‘The Newsroom.’”
By all accounts, the Farrellys should be done with their script revision soon, at which point Carrey and Daniels will hopefully have the necessary time on their hands. As a bright spot of hope for you Dumb & Dumber fans out there: This seems more like the troubled start to something that will actually materialize, more than it does another stutter-step that winds up in development limbo. We've all been patient this long - and let's face it, this small snag is nothing compared to the epic saga that is the Ghostbusters 3 delay...
In the meantime, we'll keep you updated on the status of Dumb & Dumber 2 (or Too); If Daniels is right, the sequel could start shooting around the summer of 2013.
Source: Crave Online