Jim Carrey Had a Wild Pitch For a Found Footage Horror Movie With the Daniels

Horror could easily be the most versatile genre in all of cinema. With countless subgenres, and a general “anything goes” approach, there’s so much that can be done. Similarly, Jim Carrey is a man of many talents, and that versatility has blended itself to multiple genres. From comedic roles such as Dumb and Dumber, and The Mask, to psychological dramas such as Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind, and The Truman Show, there really isn’t a tone Carrey can’t fit into. But what many probably don’t know is that the actor tried to dip his toes into much darker waters, once pitching his own idea for a horror movie to directing and writing duo, the Daniels. And not just any horror movie either — a found footage style fright flick that took place behind the scenes of the Dumb and Dumber sequel.

Jim Carrey Claims the ‘Dumb and Dumber’ Set Was Haunted

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, professionally known as the Daniels, took the world (and award circuit) by storm with their acclaimed Everything Everywhere All At Once. But before picking up several Oscars, they almost added a horror movie with Jim Carrey to their resume. Kwan revealed the interesting fact in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter when asked what is the weirdest writing job they have ever been approached about. “Very early in our careers, Jim Carrey reached out. He had just seen Paranormal Activity and was like, ‘Guys, it’s found footage and it’s horror — have you seen it?’ And we were like, ‘Uh-huh, we’ve heard of it. Where is this going?'” Carrey then suggested blending found footage with comedy, and he had the perfect idea for it.

He went on to explain that the set of Dumb and Dumber was haunted, having been filmed in the same hotel that The Shining was inspired by, so Carrey’s idea stemmed from the strange things that happened during filming.

“He’s like, ‘The whole time we were shooting, things were breaking, people were getting hurt, doors were swinging, and it felt haunted. We’re going to shoot

Dumb and Dumber To

, and I want you guys to do a found-footage horror comedy on the set. While we’re filming, you guys are going to make a feature-length, behind-the-scenes video that slowly becomes a horror film.’ We’re like, “OK, we’re in. This is amazing.’”

Jim Carrey Wanted the Horror Movie to Film the ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ Set

Unfortunately, the movie didn’t get made, but not from a lack of enthusiasm on both sides. In fact, there may have been too much enthusiasm on one end, which resulted in some disappointment. According to Kwan, he and Scheinert wrote a whole outline for the film and were excited to get started.

“Then we sat down with the producer, we pitched the idea, and they’re like, ‘We’re not actually going to make this. I’m sorry, Jim got really excited, but there’s no way the studio is going to let us do a movie while they’re shooting Dumb and Dumber To.'”

While the entire idea of the movie sounds a little absurd, it could have been the perfect project for the Daniels as they’ve since made some delightfully outrageous movies. After all, Swiss Army Man’s main character is a flatulent corpse, and Everything Everywhere All At Once has Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Yeoh flailing their hot dog hands around. Not to mention the pair got their start directing music videos, with heavy hitters such as “Houdini” by Foster the People and “Turn Down For What” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon. This experience with their penchant for the weird and wonderful would’ve made them the perfect creators of a found footage comedy-horror.

Dumb and Dumber is the last movie you’d expect to take a turn towards horror, so it would have made for quite the plot twist. It’s a shame the studios didn’t let the Daniels or Jim Carrey move forward with the idea. However, now that the Daniels are Hollywood golden boys, there may still be hope.

Dumb and Dumber is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.

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