Fresh off the news that Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are developing a sequel to their 2000 hit How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the pair sat down for a wide-ranging conversation at the UCLA Entertainment Symposium, where they gave a little tease of the new film.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter editor-in-chief Maer Roshan on Thursday, Howard — who is returning to direct Jim Carrey in his role as the classic Dr. Seuss character the Grinch — said the sequel is “something we’ve thought about for a long time, and you know what, it’s an idea that got all five or six of the brain trust excited. So it’s worth a try.”
Carrey is looking to return despite famously struggling through the production, as Grazer and Howard — who have been partners in production company Imagine Entertainment for 40 years — recounted how two weeks into filming the star told them he could no longer endure the extensive makeup and contacts needed to become the Grinch and would return his $20 million salary, with interest.
Grazer explained that he told Carrey to take the weekend to think about it before formally quitting, and in the meantime, “I had met somebody from the CIA that teaches State Department people how to survive torture.” The expert flew out that weekend to meet with Carrey, which seemed to do the trick. “I did try things before that, like having comics come and talk to Jim and try to amuse him,” Grazer noted, but after the meeting, “on Monday he said, ‘No, I’m gonna stick with it.’ They developed a method for Jim to diffuse the pain.”
