PA Images/New Line CinemaHold on to your lugnuts, it’s time for an overhaul: Jim Carrey says he’d wear The Mask again – if the director was ‘crazy’ enough.
He’s a comic legend. From Ace Ventura to Liar Liar, The Truman Show to Dumb and Dumber, Carrey’s cinematic arrival in the 90s changed comedy forever.
However, in the past decade he’s been far quieter, taking on smaller, wilder, often darker projects. He’s due to make a return to the big screen in Sonic the Hedgehog as Dr Robotnik aka Dr Eggman – could this spark a revival of one of the star’s greatest roles?
New Line CinemaWhile doing the press rounds for the upcoming video game adaptation, Carrey spoke to ComicBook about the likelihood of returning to The Mask franchise – and the answer was relatively hopeful.
Carrey said:
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.
PA ImagesBased on Dark Horse Comics series of the same name, 1994’s The Mask sees downtrodden banker Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey) finding an ancient mask, which gifts him with superhuman powers. The only caveat: he’s also turned into a zany, wise-cracking gangster.
The film was also Cameron Diaz’s first major role, starring opposite Carrey as his love interest, playing Tina Carlyle. Thankfully, neither returned for Son of the Mask, the bizarre standalone sequel-of-sorts which was released 11 years later.
New Line CinemaHowever, if The Mask was to make a comeback, there’s a chance it wouldn’t be Carrey, nay, a man at all.
The comic’s co-creator Mike Richardson told Forbes back in 2019:
I’d like it to be another character film about a person dealing with absolute power. The whole theme of The Mask was we all say what we would do if we had absolute power, just like Stanley Ipkiss. When we get absolute power, we often resort to the most petty of endeavours and it’s overcoming our human nature and using the power for good.
Sonic the Hedgehog hits UK cinemas on February 14.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.