Jim Carrey Gets Called Out By Kick-Ass Creator
In what appears to be, at least in part, a PR move to push Friday’s release of the latest installment of the Kick-Ass comic book franchise, Kick-Ass 3 #8, comic co-creator John Romita, Jr. called out Jim Carrey over his abrupt decision not to back the release of Kick-Ass 2, the film. Calling Carrey a “bonehead,” Romita seems to blame Jim’s actions in backing away from the film just before its release for the lower-than-expected box office returns.
Quoted by Comic Book Resource in an interview, Romita said of Jim Carrey: “He cashed his check and took his money, and then went and pulled a bunch of crap on our film.” Saying that Carrey’s actions cost a lot of people much-needed incomes, the comic book creator made it clear he thinks Jim sabotaged the box office for Kick-Ass 2. Romita says that Jim Carrey could have used his character to promote his political agenda regarding firearms rather than dump the character as he did. After all, says Romita, Jim Carrey played a violent character who gave up guns and became a good guy. “Anybody with three quarters of an education could have figured out how to fold that idea in with their anti-gun ideas,” he remarked.
What the Kick-Ass creator is talking about is the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre which happened last year, shortly before Kick-Ass 2 was released to theaters. Although the film had no school violence to speak of, it was, as is the franchise, full of violence of all sorts, including gun violence. After Sandy Hook, Jim Carrey publicly tweeted that he could not “support that level of violence,” according to Yahoo Movies UK. Carrey has been outspoken on issues of gun violence and ownership, taking the stance that neither is acceptable.
Further, after Carrey backed out of the film’s promotion, Romita pointed out that everything appearing in the film was in the script Jim had received and OK’d 18 months prior to the film’s release. Which does draw questions about the reasoning behind Jim Carrey’s moving away from the film after Sandy Hook.
While the remarks from Romita about Jim Carrey and Kick-Ass 2 seem very genuine, it should be pointed out that they’re coming a year after the fact and at a time when the last installment of the Kick-Ass 3 comic is being released. So publicity from such quote-ables as “Jim Carrey is a bonehead,” could definitely be playing a role here.
Peripherally, of course, Jim Carrey himself could also benefit from this extra publicity given that the much-anticipated sequel, Dumb and Dumber to, has released its trailer and will be in theaters soon.
[Photo Kick-Ass 2, Universal Pictures]
