Jim Carrey literally spent decades turning down the opportunity to make a sequel to Dumb and Dumber, and while the eventual result did end up making a tidy profit at the box office, it was a pale imitation and altogether more spiteful exercise in gross-out comedy than its beloved predecessor.
Refitting Carrey’s Lloyd and Jeff Daniels’ Harry as outright idiots and borderline creepy old men instead of the bumbling buffoons audiences had fallen in love with back in 1994, the Farrelly brothers’ follow-up took a pasting from critics and audiences alike, not that it stopped the film from racking up $170 million in ticket sales.
The most interesting thing about Dumb and Dumber To has nothing to do with what happens onscreen, though, but the shockingly contentious events that unfolded away from the cameras. Production company Red Granite Pictures ended up being charged by the Department of Justice for funding the project through money that was stolen from a Malaysian government investment fund, a turn of events nobody expected for a Hollywood comedy.
There was also a claim filed to seize the rights, several legal battles, and ultimately a $60 million settlement. It was a bizarre situation to put it lightly, but the hotly-contested nature of how Dumb and Dumber To was bought and paid for hasn’t had a say in the dismal second installment’s current success on streaming.
As per FlixPatrol, the return of the iconic duo fans demanded but wished they’d never gotten has been flying high on both Rakuten and ViaPlay this week, although we expect Malaysia isn’t too keen on it.