Universal Developing Grinch Sequel With Carrey, Howard
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- Universal and Imagine Entertainment are developing a sequel to 2000's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which dominated the box office earning more than $350 million at the time.
- Jim Carrey is expected to reprise his role as the Grinch, with Ron Howard returning to direct and Brian Grazer producing — though the source notes talks are ongoing and the deal could fall apart.
- The script will be written by Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and David Mandel — all three "Curb Your Enthusiasm" veterans who previously collaborated on the 2003 "Cat in the Hat" adaptation, a critical disaster that won multiple Razzie Awards.
- Carrey told ComicBook.com in 2024 he'd consider returning only with motion capture, citing the original's "extremely excruciating" makeup process that left him "hardly breathing" on set.
- Carrey is currently set to reprise his role as Dr. Robotnik in 2027's "Sonic the Hedgehog 4," giving him a more forgiving makeup-free franchise to balance against the Grinch production.
- Universal and Illumination's 2018 animated "The Grinch" was another monster hit for the studio, reinforcing the franchise's commercial track record.
- The Hollywood Reporter broke the news; Dr. Seuss Enterprises CEO Susan Brandt will oversee the project for the rights holder alongside Universal production executives.
Why it matters: The sequel's two biggest creative risks are baked into the announcement: Carrey has explicitly tied his participation to motion capture technology replacing the original's grueling prosthetics, and the writing trio's last Seuss collaboration ("The Cat in the Hat") became a punchline. A $350M-plus original and a 2018 animated hit give Universal a proven property to defend, but the deal's fragility — talks could still collapse — means nothing is locked until cameras roll.
