Like the Norse mask at the bottom of the sea in the original film, The Mask franchise has been lying dormant for a long while. However, there’s suddenly been a lot of buzz about a potential new movie in the series, which is based on the Dark Horse comic book character, over the past few months. Jim Carrey famously brought green-faced hero Stanley Ipkiss to cartoonish life in 1994’s hit comedy, but would he be willing to star in a sequel?
Well, it seems the actor isn’t ruling it out, but he does have one key stipulation. While speaking with ComicBook.com to promote his role in Sonic the Hedgehog, Carrey was asked if he’d consider making a new Mask movie. The star revealed that he’d be open to it, although he’d need the involvement of a talented filmmaker with a bold vision to really get him excited enough to sign on.
“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.”
The character’s co-creator, Mike Richardson, started the ball rolling last summer when he revealed there’s a chance of a female-led reboot of the property happening. We Got This Covered then brought you the news that there are two competing ideas being entertained behind the scenes: Richardson’s female reboot, perhaps focusing on Ipkiss’ daughter, or a straight-up belated sequel with Carrey returning. Obviously, the latter option relies on the actor saying yes, and now we know the studio needs to hire a solid director to tempt him.
Based on the much darker comics by Richardson, Doug Mahnke and John Arcudi, The Mask was a huge blockbuster smash back in the mid-90s. There were naturally plans for a follow-up with Carrey, then, but the movie never got off the ground. Instead, we got the abysmal Son of the Mask, starring Jamie Kennedy, in 2005. But maybe history could be corrected if Carrey could be convinced to do a proper sequel?