You may have seen rumors of an announcement about The Grinch 2 and thought “oh Jim Carrey’s reprising his role!!” Of course, if you enjoy the now classic live action of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, this news probably intrigues you.
Unfortunately, The Grinch 2 is not likely what you think. At this point, any sequel will likely be to the 2018 animated movie, The Grinch. Here’s what you need to know. But even that version’s sequel is speculation at best.
Here’s what’s known so far.
What is The Grinch 2 confusion?
Giant Freaking Robot – that reads like AI inspired dribble fitting its name, I might add – recently reported that a sequel to Jim Carey’s version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas is getting released November 4, 2023. While this may seem like a great news for any fan of his live-action version, this report does not seem based on reality (much to my wife’s disappointment).
Other questionable sites also reported the news, and they also appear to be written either by AI or incompetent humans that got their facts all screwed up.
Here’s what to know about The Grinch 2:
- No major news or entertainment outfit is talking about this, which should be an immediate red flag. Why wouldn’t they report on something that will generate traffic and income, unless, it’s not true? If Jim Carey wanted to reprise his role, had gone through a year or more of shooting, and so on, there would be a butt ton of press on this. There is no way Universal Studios kept that under cover for so long, and also, why would they? They’d want people talking about it to get people pumped up about a long awaited sequel.
- Illumination Entertainment (which Universal Studios owns) may be planning a sequel to the 2018 The Grinch starring Benedict Cumberbatch. But similar to its parent company, I have not found a single, reputable site confirming the announcement. At best, sites report that either it will be developed or released are likely only speculating, but most seem to be just mixing up a lot of different details and stories. Oh shit, now I’m speculating. You see! It’s a vicious cycle of speculation we’ve engaged in here.
- Dr Seuss Enterprises did announce that a sequel to A How the Grinch Stole Christmas is coming in fall of 2023 with a release in the U.K. on September 5th. Alastair Heim wrote and Aristides Ruiz illustrated the book called How the Grinch Lost Christmas. This direct sequel takes place 1 year after the events of the original book.
Articles that suggest The Grinch 2 will feature Jim Carrey likely have gotten mixed up and are likely AI generated. AI often has a hard time keeping facts straight, particularly when so many different things share similar names. It likely found information on “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” fans expressing desire to see Jim Carrey, The Grinch, The Grinch 2018, and the sequel book’s announcement and blended it altogether in some crazy ass mixed up story about how Jim Carrey will reprise his role in a yet to be developed but soon to be released The Grinch 2, which will of course come out in November 2023.
Confused? Try reading an article that actually reports The Grinch 2. It reads just like that.
Since Carrey has pretty famously refuted ever wanting to reprise the role and many sites talk about the torture he went through putting on his costume, I’m guessing that if they ever do make The Grinch 2, it will be a direct sequel to the 2018 version from Illumination and not a live action.
How the Grinch Lost Christmas – The true sequel
The only known The Grinch 2 is a book called How the Grinch Lost Christmas. Though not based on any lost manuscripts from Dr. Seuss himself, the author did base the work on Dr. Seuss’ original book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
This sequel takes place one year following the events of the first book. In it, the Grinch will try to prove to the Whos that he has truly embraced the Christmas spirit. Mischief and mayhem likely ensue.
As mentioned above, the book will release in fall of 2023. This also likely the source of the rumor about Jim Carrey’s The Grinch 2 releasing in November.
You can preorder the book here. (I don’t get any money from the link or sale and do not care if you order the book or not.)
Where to watch The Grinch (2018) or How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
If you want to watch either the 2018 The Grinch or the 2000 live action How the Grinch Stole Christmas, you have a few options.
You can check out The Grinch on the Peacock Premium channel. Yeah, it will cost you money to stream there.
You can check out How the Grinch Stole Christmas (live action version) on Max (formerly HBO Max). Also cost you money to stream it there too.
You can also rent either from popular streaming rental options such as Amazon Prime, Google, and so on.
