Reports that Jim Carrey's Dumb & Dumber sequel suffered an unexpected death are greatly exaggerated.
Just weeks after Warner Bros. decided to drop Dumb and Dumber To from its New Line Cinema slate, Universal Pictures has inked a deal to release Peter and Bobby Farrelly's highly anticipated comedy, the studio confirms to E! News.
The switcheroo happened after Warner got cold feet on the heels of the box office bomb that was New Line's The Incredible Adventures of Burt Wonderstone, in which the funnyman had a smaller but otherwise hilarious part.
Like that other film, Dumb and Dumber To is budgeted in the mid-$30 million range and aims to reunite Carrey with costar Jeff Daniels in their respective roles of Lloyd and Harry 19 years after the original hit.
But after Wonderstone's underwhelming performance, a skittish Warner gave the Farrellys the go-ahead to shop the follow-up to other financiers, opening the door for Universal. The studio has now agreed to pick up the flick for distribution after production company Red Granite, which financed the forthcoming Leonardo DiCaprio movie Wolf of Wall Street, agreed to bankroll the project.
The news will certainly please Carrey, who briefly backed out of Dumb and Dumber To last year after noting Warner Bros. was less than enthusiastic about it.
"I would have thought Dumb and Dumber To was a no-brainer," the star said in a statement. "After all, it's implied in the title."
The situation isn't exactly a loss for Warner either, however, as the company will still retain a licensing fee and a share of the box office receipts.