Jim Carrey officially returning for How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2

A sequel to the live-action How the Grinch Stole Christmas is in development, with director Ron Howard and star Jim Carrey in talks to return, according to The Hollywood Reporter. This comes despite Carrey nearly quitting the first film amid panic attacks and even enlisting a “torture” expert to help him endure filming of the 2000 original.

The Grinch sequel will reportedly reunite Carrey, Howard, and producer Brian Grazer. The sequel’s script is being penned by Alec Berg (Barry), Jeff Schaffer (The League), and David Mandel (Veep), THR said. All three of those writers also worked on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, so they know how to write grumps. They’re also responsible for another Dr. Seuss-inspired project: 2003’s The Cat in the Hat starring Mike Myers. Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman wrote the screenplay for the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

It is unconfirmed whether the new Grinch movie will be live-action. Carrey famously almost quit How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and promised to give up a $20 million payday, because he hated being in the full-body Grinch makeup. In an oral history of the movie published by Vulture last year, Carrey said, “The suit was made of unnervingly itchy yak hair that drove me insane all day long. I had ten-inch-long fingers, so I couldn’t scratch myself or touch my face or do anything. I had teeth that I had to find a way to speak around, and I had full contact lenses that covered the entire eyeball, and I could only see a tiny tunnel in front of me.”

After his first eight-hour makeup session to transform into the Grinch, Carrey told Howard and Grazer that he was quitting the film. But Grazer called upon the late Richard Marcinko, a U.S. Navy SEAL commander and the first commanding officer of SEAL Team Six, to teach Carrey how to withstand the “torture” of being in the Grinch suit.

Makeup legend Rick Baker, who handled Carrey’s makeup, explained that “the torture really came in was the number of days. He was 92 days in makeup, something like that, which is like a record.”

But Carrey said he found relief from the anguish through another source. “What really helped me through the makeup process, which they eventually pulled down to about three hours, was the Bee Gees,” Carrey told Vulture. “I listened through the makeup process to the entire Bee Gees catalogue. Their music is so joyful. I’ve never met Barry Gibb, but I want to thank him.”

Universal, which is making the Grinch sequel, also released an animated The Grinch movie in 2018, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. The original live-action How the Grinch Stole Christmas grossed $350 million back in 2000 against a $123 million budget. The Grinch brought in $550 million against a $75 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.

Carrey will next star in Sonic the Hedgehog 4, reprising his role as Dr. Ivo Robotnik. He appears to be enjoying that role much more.