Toilet humor got the royal flush as Jim Carrey treated a cop to his urine and slipped Jeff Daniels a laxative.
Dumb and Dumber To is up for grabs.
The planned sequel to one of the biggest comedies of the 1990s has been in the works for years at New Line Cinema. But now sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that New Line parent Warner Bros. is declining to move forward and will allow the project be shopped to other studios.
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Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels are attached to reprise their starring roles, and Bobby and Peter Farrelly are back in the directors’ chair for a sequel that would see Carrey and Daniels hit the road to find Daniels’ illegitimate daughter for a kidney transplant. Brad Krevoy, Steve Stabler, Charlie Wessler and Bradley Thomas would produce.
The 1994 original, made when Carrey was just beginning his ascent to the A-list, cost $17 million to make and grossed more than $247 million at the time.
New Line made a prequel without the two stars, 2003’s Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, but a reunion proved elusive. Only in recent years have Carrey and Daniels finally agreed to return for a potential sequel.
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Now, however, it is Warners that has lost interest.
Sources say the studio sees only limited upside in a follow-up and is unwilling to give it the greenlight, despite a budget in the low $30 million range. (The decision comes in the wake of the poor March performance of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, the Steve Carell-Steve Buscemi comedy that incidentally had Carrey as a featured co-star and who drew rave reviews. That movie also cost in the $30 million range but grossed only $22 million domestically.)
The Farrellys now will seek a new financier and distributor for the project. If a suitor comes forward, New Line still would get a licensing fee and a share of backend.
E-mail: Borys.Kit@thr.com
Twitter: @Borys_Kit
