‘Dumb and Dumber To’ is happening, but is releasing a sequel 20 years later a good idea?

Barely a week after studio Warner Bros. decided to officially get out of the “Dumb and Dumber” sequel business, rival studio Universal jumped in to rescue the long-in-development follow-up to the hit 1994 Jim Carrey/Jeff Daniels comedy.

Carrey, Daniels, and crass comedy maestros Peter and Bobby Farrelly (“Hall Pass”) are set to start shooting “Dumb and Dumber To” later this summer. The film will follow the continuing misadventures of not-so-bright pals Harry and Lloyd as they embark on yet another epic road trip.

After a decade filled with dramatic roles for both actors, it’ll be refreshing to see Carrey and Daniels back in the gross out comedy game. The Farrellys, for their part, have not ceased making offensively hilarious comedy flicks since hitting it big with movies like “Dumb and Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary.” The filmmaker brothers should be able to pick up right where they left off.

There’s no arguing that the Carrey, Daniels, and the Farrelly brothers made one heck of a comic team in the original film, but is returning to the “Dumb and Dumber” well almost 20 years after the first movie such a good idea? Historically, comedy sequels released more than ten years after the original movie have not fared well at the box office or with critics.

Two notable examples of this are the unsuccessful sequels to 1968’s “The Odd Couple” and 1980’s “The Blues Brothers.” Like “Dumb and Dumber,” the originals are considered bona fide classics within their respective comedic subgenres, and like “Dumb and Dumber,” both were followed by direct sequels made decades later – 18 years in the case of “The Blues Brothers 2000” and 30 years in the case of “The Odd Couple II.” Not only did both sequels flop spectacularly (making less than $20 million in box office receipts each), but the films did nothing but tarnish the far superior originals. Will “Dumb and Dumber To” share the same fate?

Jim Carrey is still a very bankable actor – particularly if the film he’s starring in is a comedy. Daniels, though mostly relegated to supporting roles and character parts lately, has had his profile raised recently thanks to his Emmy- and SAG-nominated turn as newsman Will McAvoy on the HBO series “The Newsroom.” Neither actor is as over-the-hill in Hollywood terms as “Blues Brothers” star Dan Aykroyd or the late “Odd Couple” duo of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemon were when they made their sequels. Similarly, the Farrellys have proven that they can still bring the laughs with ensemble comedies like “Hall Pass” and (somewhat inexplicably) “The Three Stooges,” although they haven’t yet been able to replicate the runaway success of their earlier films.

Any fan of the original “Dumb and Dumber” would love to see Harry and Lloyd back in idiotic action, but does the average moviegoer even remember the original? If the abject failure of the 2003 prequel "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd" (with which Carrey, Daniels, and the Farrelly brothers had zero involvement) is any indication, “Dumb and Dumber To” might already be in trouble. Twenty years is an eternity for audiences with an ever-shrinking attention span.