At a press junket for their latest movie The Three Stooges, directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly took some time to discuss the long-rumored sequel to their 1994 smash hit debut Dumb & Dumber, which also helped launch the career of star Jim Carrey. Coming Soon reports that Peter Farrelly said that the movie is definitely in the works with the stars returning and that the brothers are looking to begin production later this year on Dumb & Dumber 2 (title subject to change).”

Back in October we reported that Sean Anders and John Morris, the writing team behind Sex Drive and Hot Tub Time Machine (two gloriously filthy and brilliant comedies I absolutely love), had been hired to pen the screenplay. Carrey has expressed his interest in a sequel, as did his co-star Jeff Daniels.

“We did not do Dumb and Dumberer,” Peter Farrelly stated, referring to the 2003 prequel that he and his brother had no involvement with. “That was a studio thing. So we’ve always wanted to do a sequel and finally Jim called up. Jeff always wanted to do it. We always wanted to do it. Jim was busy, but he called and said, ‘We’ve got to do this thing again.’ He had just watched Dumb and Dumber and he said, ‘This is the perfect sequel. Let’s do it.'”

Making a sequel to the movie that helped make the Farrelly brothers huge names in the world of comedy back in 1990s makes sense from a financial standpoint: the brothers haven’t had a blockbuster hit since There’s Something About Mary and they’ve been coasting on the goodwill that unexpected blockbuster earned them for years, allowing them to make decent-to-mediocre comedies like Shallow Hal and The Heartbreak Kid. The years have been slightly kinder to their stars. Carrey, although lacking a big hit comedy for the better part of the decade, has been using the lull in his career to develop his skills as a dramatic actor and take on risky projects like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I Love You Phillip Morris. Meanwhile, Jeff Daniels continues to give standout performances in interesting feature films. With the right script in place (Anders and Morris are modern masters of gross-out comedy), the Farrellys back on their game, and their leads rediscovering their priceless comic chemistry, Dumb & Dumber 2 could prove to be a big hit for all involved.

The Farrelly brothers’ new film The Three Stooges opens in theaters on April 13, 2012.

[Source: Coming Soon]