1 of Jim Carrey’s Best Movies Should Have Been a Franchise

There really is no other actor quite like Jim Carrey. For more than 30 years, the man has graced the screen with his ability to incite mass amounts of laughter from audiences with comedies like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Yes Man. However, he has also proven his ability to move them emotionally with more dramatic performances in films like Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. With all the successful hits he’s had throughout his career, some of them were forced to abandon plans for follow-ups, as Carrey made his lack of interest in making sequels quite clear. There was one film, however, that was meant to serve as the launch pad for a franchise, one that sadly never took off despite Carrey hoping it would.

When one hears the title Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, one might ask oneself why one would ever want to subject oneself to such a film. Well, despite its gloomy title, they might be surprised to learn that there are actually great amounts of fun, laughter, and heartfelt emotion to be had with it. As the film celebrates its 20th anniversary, now is the perfect time for fans of the books, as well as fans of Jim Carrey, to revisit one of the most unique and underrated works of his entire career.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Is a Brilliant Adaptation

Condensing the Three Books Into One Story, It Perfectly Captures The Spirit of Them

Based on the best-selling book series of the same name, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events follows the misadventures of the Baudelaire orphans. After their parents are tragically killed in a house fire, they’re sent to live with their distant relative, Count Olaf, a talentless actor who plans on murdering the children to inherit the enormous Baudelaire family fortune. As the children make their way and find solace in the company of new guardians, Olaf relentlessly pursues them while disguised as different characters. While these disguises don’t get past the perceptions of the children, the clueless adults are unfortunately none the wiser. All of this is backed up by the narration of the titular Lemony Snicket, a mysterious writer dedicated to retracing and documenting the Baudelaire’s journey.

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The film serves as an adaption of the first three books of the series, The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window. Some fans may consider it too condensed, but it manages to weave them all together to create one singular narrative rather brilliantly. It’s understandable why some would be disappointed that the second and third books don’t get enough time to be adapted in full; given just how well Billy Connolly and Meryl Streep do in their roles as the Baudelaire’s second and third guardians, however, it’s enough to give the audience the sense that they know the characters well enough that they leave just as of an impact despite their limited screen-time. Despite all the changes that were forced to be made in adapting three books at once, director Brad Silberling still does a remarkable job of capturing the morosely comedic spirit and tone of them. Not only that, but it also carries an unexpected amount of heart

Much like the Harry Potter franchise, despite being based off a “children’s” book series, the film offers just as much, if not more, for adults to appreciate as well. From Jim Carrey’s unforgettable performance to the fantastic production values (with the overall visual aesthetic being a character of its own) to even Thomas Newman’s hypnotic and breathtaking musical score, there’s a little something for just about everyone. The message of its story, that it’s possible to overcome anything that goes wrong, can speak to just about anyone of any age as well, with Violet claiming her parent’s words: “At times the world may seem a sinister and unfriendly place, but believe us when we say that there is much better in it than bad.”

Jim Carrey Had Hoped To Reprise His Role as Count Olaf

While Normally Opposed to Sequels, The Actor Seemed More Than Keen on Doing a 2nd Lemony Snicket Film

As previously mentioned, for a long time, Jim Carrey didn’t really enjoy the idea of making sequels to his most successful films. In 1997, he famously turned down a $10 million offer for a sequel to The Mask, as his experience doing Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls convinced him that reprising a role offered no real challenges for him as an actor. While he’s since changed his mind, having done a second Dumb and Dumber film while also staying committed to his role as Dr. Robotnik in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, the possibility of making more Lemony Snicket films was another one that he was willing to make an exception for. Carrey became a fan of the books after reading them in preparation for the film, and with all the different personas and characters that Olaf adapts in hunting down the Baudelaire children, the thought of tackling them as well, to him, seemed like it’d be a fun prospect. During an interview with IGN, he seemed rather excited when the idea of a sequel came up.

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While Carrey brings more of a comedic edge to the character of Count Olaf than how he’s handled in the book, he proves to still be just as unapologetically despicable and villainously ominous as Snicket originally wrote him to be. He brings his usual mugging style of comic acting to the role, but it’s that kind of exaggerated performance that feels completely warranted for both the film and the character. Count Olaf is meant to be an untalented actor with an ego as big as his forehead, which would require a certain over-the-top theatricality; and seeing Olaf play his two alter-egos, Stefano and Captain Sham, with so much energy and confidence in himself makes for some of the film’s funniest moments. There’s no doubt Carrey would’ve gained even harder laughs if he had the chance to take on Olaf’s other ridiculous characters, but sadly, it just wasn’t meant to be.

How Plans For Future Lemony Snicket Films Fell Apart

Corporate Shakeups, Along With The Aging of the Child Actors Prevented a Proper Franchise From Taking Off

During its initial theatrical release, A Series of Unfortunate Events received highly positive reviews from critics, did quite well at the box office, and even earned a total of 3 Oscar nominations, winning only 1. With this kind of reception, it’s quite shocking that no sequels ever materialized, despite its cast and crew expressing interest in making them. So, why didn’t Paramount and Nickelodeon ever follow up on doing so, despite their hopes of having the next Harry Potter on their hands? As it turns out, there are several reasons, none of which have anything to do with the film’s overall success. While talks about a sequel had begun between Silberling, Daniel Handler (the real Lemony Snicket), and the studio, it was about as far as development ever got.

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A script was never completed, and according to an old MTV blog from 2009, it was all due to “an inter-studio squabble between co-producers Paramount and Dreamworks”. By the time said squabble had been settled, it seemed that the time to pursue a sequel had run out; however, that didn’t stop Silbering from trying. In the same blog, the director was quoted expressing interest in making a stop-motion sequel, with each following installment taking on a different animated medium, seeing how Emily Browning and Liam Aiken had already aged out of their roles by that point.

Sadly, for reasons still unknown, this idea never went anywhere either. Even though the fans eventually got their wish of a complete and more faithful adaptation of how progressively ridiculous the story of the books get with the Netflix TV series, the film adaptation maintains undeniable magic and holds a heavy amount of emotional weight that just can’t be topped. With the film reaching its 20th anniversary this year, as fun as it is to imagine the franchise that it could’ve spawned, it deserves to be more widely celebrated for the wonderful standalone film that it still is.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

When a massive fire kills their parents, three children are delivered to the custody of cousin and stage actor Count Olaf, who is secretly plotting to steal their parents’ vast fortune.

Director

Brad Silberling

Release Date

December 16, 2004

Cast

Jim Carrey , Liam Aiken , Emily Browning , Kara Hoffman , Shelby Hoffman , Jude Law

Writers

Robert Gordon , Daniel Handler

Runtime

107 minutes

Main Genre

Adventure

Producer

Production Company

Producers

Albie Hecht , Barry Sonnenfeld , Jim Van Wyck , Julia Pistor , Laurie MacDonald , Scott Rudin

Character(s)

Violet Baudelaire , Klaus Baudelaire , Count Olaf / Dr. Stephano / Captain Sham , Josephine Anwhistle , Lemony Snicket (voice) , Sunny Baudelaire , Mr. Poe , Dr. Montgomery Montgomery , Bald Man , White-Faced Women , Person of Indeterminate Gender , Hook-Handed Man , Justice Strauss , Constable , Grocery Clerk , Gruff Grocer , Le Juge , Gustav , Mrs. Poe , Captain Sam , Dream Gypsy (uncredited) , Beatrice Baudelaire (uncredited) , Mrs. Baudelaire (uncredited)

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