Will a sequel to The Mask ever happen? No such plans are in place as of yet, but at the very least, Jim Carrey isn’t ruling anything out. At least not entirely. The Mask was released in the 90s arguably at the height of Carrey’s powers as a performer and remains one of his biggest hits ever. In an age when Hollywood is reviving and rebooting seemingly anything, it’s not hard to imagine this one coming back around. But it would take the exact right set of circumstances to get Carrey to pull this character back out of the closet.
Jim Carrey is currently promoting Sonic the Hedgehog, which is set to hit theaters next month. In it, Carrey plays Dr. Robotnik, aka Dr. Eggman. It looks to be a more out-there performance, more akin to what we saw from him in the 90s. During a recent interview, he was asked about the possibility of returning for The Mask 2. Here’s what Carrey had to say about it.
“I don’t think in terms of sequels and stuff like that, I mean, this one [Sonic The Hedgehog] is kind of right for it because we have not evolved the character [Dr. Eggman] fully yet. The Mask I think, myself, you know, it would depend on a filmmaker. It depends on a filmmaker really. I don’t want to do it just to do it. But I would only do it if it was some crazy visionary filmmaker. Sure.”
As for who that visionary filmmaker could possibly be? That’s anyone’s guess at this point. The original was directed by Chuck Russell and was released in 1994. It proved to be a massive success at the box office, grossing $351 million worldwide, working from a comparatively small $23 million budget. A sequel/spin-off, which Jim Carrey did not star in, titled Son of the Mask was released in 2005. It was panned by critics and was a commercial disaster, grossing just $57 million.
The Mask centered on a timid bank clerk named Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey) who discovers a magical mask containing the spirit of the Norse god Loki. The item changes his life. When he puts it on, Ipkiss becomes a confident, charming supernatural playboy. This catches the eye of local nightclub singer Tina Carlyle (Cameron Diaz). However, this magical mask also causes Ipkiss to rob a bank and get on the bad side of crime lord Dorian Tyrell (Peter Greene), whose crew gets blamed for the heist.
There were completely unsubstantiated rumors that a sequel was in development last year, but nothing official has been confirmed by Warner Bros. The Mask started life as a comic book created by Doug Mahnke and John Arcudi, which was published by Dark Horse Comics and dates back to the 80s, with the version that went on to inspire the movie being released in the early 90s. This news comes to us via Comicbook.com.
