Peter Farrelly, one half of the “Farrelly Brothers” filmmaking team, says they came closer than most fans might expect to making a follow-up to his beloved ’90s comedy There’s Something About Mary. The movie, which starred Cameron Diaz and Ben Stiller, centered on a man who reconnects with his high school crush years later in the hopes of finding true love in his twenties. In a comic twist, Ted (Stiller) ends up competing for Mary’s affections with two other guys, including Pat (Matt Dillon), a PI who first encountered Mary after Ted hired him to find out where she went after school. Turns out, that was harder in the days before Facebook.
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In addition to its big box office success (it earned more than $350 million against a reported $23 million budget), There’s Something About Mary became the kind of cultural phenomenon usually limited to big, franchise films. It was endlessly referenced and parodied on TV and in other movies. Since it was released during the heyday of the video rental store, it’s likely the movie made at least another $50 to $100 million in video rentals and sales — although that’s an estimate based on the performance of similar movies; Mary‘s numbers weren’t easily found at the time of recording.
“You know, Dumb & Dumber was the one, like you could do ten Dumb and Dumbers, honestly, and I really enjoyed Dumb & Dumber 2 — the one that we did,” Farrelly told ComicBook.com. “And I love those two guys, so…bring it back. Somethign About Mary, when it came out they did talk about a sequel — the studio — and honestly we were like, ‘It ended, that’s the thing.’”
He added that they briefly toyed with the idea of “There’s Something Else About Mary,” which would have revealed a shocking — and apparently not safe for work — secret about the character’s past…but studio bosses were not into it, so the Farrelly Brothers moved on.
Here’s the movie’s synopsis (via its Rotten Tomatoes page): In There’s Something About Mary, Ted’s (Ben Stiller) dream prom date with Mary (Cameron Diaz) never happens due to an embarrassing injury at her home. Years later, Ted hires Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to track down Mary so he can reconnect with her. Pat lies to Ted about Mary and he finds out everything he can about her to trick her into dating him. Ted travels to meet Mary and has to weave through the web of lies that Pat and Mary’s friend Tucker (Lee Evans) have woven to try and win her over.
Ricky Stanicky premieres globally on Prime Video March 7, 2024.
