Why Jim Carrey Never Made A Sequel To The Mask

With "The Mask" being such a beloved early-90s hit, many fans of the movie and its star, Jim Carrey, have likely wondered why we never got a real sequel. The reason comes down to Carrey's contract, which was only for one movie. That's not to say the producers didn't try to get a sequel off the ground, however. Unfortunately, when they tried to get Carrey back for the follow-up, he was too busy with other projects, which considering he was essentially at the height of his powers in the years immediately after "The Mask," makes a lot of sense.

In 1994 "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" introduced mass audiences to Carrey's inimitable physical comedy, but it was "The Mask" that really let him go wild. The movie's premise and surprisingly cutting-edge CGI exaggerated the actor's already over-the-top on-screen antics in such a way that kids everywhere were convinced that Jim Carrey could actually pull off the physical feats on-display. As such, "The Mask" remains a beloved early-90s comedy that also happened to be a major success at the box office, making $352 million on a comparatively minuscule budget of $18 million. 

All of which raises the obvious question of why Carrey wouldn't make time for a sequel? Sure, we got a standalone sequel (which frankly didn't need to happen), in the form of "Son of The Mask." But that unnecessary follow-up didn't materialize until 2005 and managed a decidedly non-ssssmokin' 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. What's more, Carrey and co-star Cameron Diaz have one condition to return for "The Mask 2," which means such a movie wasn't ever beyond the realm of possibility. Unfortunately, bringing Carrey back for a proper sequel simply proved too difficult.

A comedy about a mask that turns a bank worker into a cartoon superhero from the director of "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" doesn't seem like it should have been a hit on paper. What's more, in July of 1994, Jim Carrey had only recently fronted "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and was still part-way through his transformation from relative unknown to superstar. As unlikely a hit as it seemed, however, "The Mask" would be one of two 1994 movies that took him to stratospheric heights.

The other, "Ace Ventura" made its star a box office phenomenon, even though half the people involved didn't think Carrey could pull it off. With "The Mask," his status became solidified. Not only was the film Cameron Diaz's acing debut, Carrey's irresistible on-screen charisma ensured it became an instant success. A sequel seemed like a no-brainer, especially since "Ace Ventura" received just that with 1995's "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls." Alas, no such follow-up ever materialized, and according to Forbes' oral history of "The Mask" it was all down to Carrey's unavailability.

Creator of the Mask character, Mike Richardson, recalled how when the deal for the first movie was written, nobody included a clause about a sequel. "I'm not sure why that was," he said. "But we tried for years to get [Carrey] to do it [but] he was doing a lot of other projects at the time. He became probably the hottest movie star in the world at that time." According to Richardson, Carrey was earning $20 million a feature, which made his involvement in a "Mask" sequel impossible. Still, as the creator went on to say, "he was semi-interested when I talked to him, but he was just always on different projects."

In his Forbes interview, Mike Richardson speculated that Jim Carrey's experience on 2000's "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" put him off wearing green makeup. "His face got infected or something," he said. "So I think he didn't want to wear the makeup again." Director Charles Russell recalled something similar, saying that Carrey was making "The Grinch" at the time he was working on a sequel. "It's a lovely film," said Russell, "but it features him in green makeup with cartoon sound effects and a dog. It's kind of similar. I can only guess [why a sequel never happened], so you'd have to ask everybody involved." 

Both Richardson and Russell tried to produce a sequel, which according to the former would have seen Carrey's Stanley Ipkiss follow Cameron Diaz's Tina Carlyle to Las Vegas where "mayhem ensues." Russell said the follow-up would also have seen Diaz wear the Mask at some point, but as the director went on to say "I didn't wanna do it and neither did Jim unless it was as good as the first." He continued:

"It just became very difficult as Jim's career blew up and many choices were made. I wanna emphasize here that I wished everybody the best and still do. It wasn't a problem. I wasn't [even] sure we should do a sequel at the time.

There was also the fact that, as Richardson put it, "nobody wanted to follow Jim in that role," which is understandable given how seminal a moment it was for 90s comedy. Interestingly enough, a 2015 article from Destructoid claims an actual sequel starring Carrey did enter some form of production but that the star eventually pulled out — though neither Richardson nor Russell confirmed as much.