The Grinch is coming back. Jim Carrey, who told Vulture that the original shoot’s infamous eight-hour daily makeup process nearly drove him to quit and return his $20 million paycheck, is now in talks to strap it back on for a sequel.
Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment are in development on an untitled follow-up to HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, the 2000 holiday classic that finished as the year’s top domestic earner with $260 million stateside and $345 million worldwide. Director Ron Howard will return behind the camera, with Howard and his Imagine Entertainment partner, producer Brian Grazer, producing.
The screenplay falls to a CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM alumni club: writers Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer and David Mandel, all three of whom also collaborated on the 2003 Seuss adaptation THE CAT IN THE HAT. Whether their sharp satirical instincts translate to a story rooted in the actual nature of Christmas remains to be seen.
The original movie’s staying power is something studios rarely achieve. HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS has ranked in the top 10 most-streamed holiday movies every year for the past five years, according to Nielsen data. Last Christmas, in the two weeks surrounding Dec. 25, it peaked at No. 2 overall with 962 million minutes viewed — besting the 2018 Illumination animated movie and trailing only the perennial champ HOME ALONE.
Getting Carrey into that costume the first time was no small feat. Makeup artists Rick Baker and Gail Rowell-Ryan — who won the Academy Award for Best Makeup for the original — spent around eight hours a day turning Carrey green. He reportedly enlisted a man who trained CIA agents to withstand interrogation just to cope. The process eventually trimmed to three hours, which apparently still left an impression.
Related: How THE GRINCH Changed This Child Actress’ Life
Movieguide® reviewed HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS upon its original release and gave it a rare four out of four stars for entertainment quality.
“In terms of big budget Hollywood offerings, THE GRINCH is a treat,” Movieguide®’s review stated. “Beyond its sweetness, action, adventure, and fantasy, it makes some wonderful moral points and has a delightful ending.”
But Movieguide® was candid about where the movie left the door open. The original does something genuinely good — it refuses to let the Whos reduce Christmas to a shopping list, and young Cindy Lou Who even invokes the BOOK OF WHO to call her community to love the outcast. The movie points toward something real. It just never names it.
“If only it had brought Jesus into the picture instead of just vaguely pointing to Something more,” Movieguide® concluded, “it would have been a true Christmas classic.”
That critique applies again — and the sequel’s creative team gives no immediate reason for optimism on that front. Movieguide®’s original review noted that those close to Howard identified him as a Christian; whether his faith finds more expression in the follow-up is an open question worth watching. Dr. Seuss Enterprises CEO Susan Brandt will oversee the project for the estate. No release date has been set.
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