The Mask is a 1994 American superhero comedy film directed by Chuck Russell and produced by Bob Engelman from a screenplay by Mike Werb and a story by Michael Fallon and Mark Verheiden.

Carrey plays Stanley Ipkiss, an ordinary man who finds a magical wooden mask that transforms him into a green-faced troublemaker who can cartoonishly alter himself and his surroundings at will.

In Edge City, insecure bank teller Stanley Ipkiss is frequently ridiculed by everyone except for his co-worker and best friend, Charlie Schumaker.

One day, Tyrell sends his dazzling singer-girlfriend, Tina Carlyle, into the bank to record its layout for an upcoming robbery.

After being denied entrance to the Coco Bongo to watch Tina perform, Stanley's faulty loaner car breaks down during his drive home.

While looking over the harbor bridge in despair, he tries rescuing a humanoid figure in the waters but finds it to be a pile of garbage concealing a wooden mask.

With newfound confidence, Stanley indulges in a comical rampage through the city, humiliating several of his tormentors, including his temperamental landlady, Agnes Peenman, and the mechanics who gave him the faulty car.

The following day, Stanley encounters Detective Lieutenant Mitch Kellaway and newspaper reporter Peggy Brandt, who are investigating the Mask's activity.

To obtain the funds necessary to attend Tina's performance, Stanley dons the mask and raids the bank, inadvertently foiling Tyrell's robbery.

Shortly after, Tyrell confronts him for disrupting the theft, and Stanley flees, leaving behind a scrap of cloth from his suit, which reverts into a piece of his pajamas.

She attempts to flee but is kidnapped by Tyrell, who prepares her for the charity ball at the Coco Bongo, hosted by Niko and attended by the city's elite, including the mayor.

After locking Kellaway in his car, Stanley enters the club and enlists Charlie's help, but he is quickly discovered and captured.

[6] One unused Mask idea, according to Richardson, was to transform the story into one about a mask-maker who took faces off of corpses to put them on teens and turn them into zombies.

Verheiden's revised draft included more instances of fourth wall breaking like "cameos" by critics Siskel and Ebert, and dark content such as excessive bloodshed and sexual assault.

Carrey was top of his list and the script had been rewritten for him, but Nicolas Cage and Matthew Broderick were also kept in consideration if he declined.

[14]Russell's first choice to play Tina had been Anna Nicole Smith; however, she backed out at the last minute to appear in Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult instead.

[14] The Mask's visual effects were handled by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Dream Quest Images.

[15] Although many VFX scenes had to be cut for budget,[11] New Line invested more heavily on the special effects, as Jim Carrey was not yet an established star.

[18] The costume included fake teeth meant to be used outside of dialogue scenes, but Carrey learned to wear them while talking to play the character more convincingly.

The score was composed and conducted by Randy Edelman, performed by the Irish Film Orchestra, and recorded at Windmill Lane Studios Ireland.

In terms of global gross compared to budget, the film became the most profitable comic book movie of all time, and it remained so until 2019, when Joker surpassed it.

[citation needed] In his column, Ebert, who was underwhelmed by his performance in Ace Ventura, thought Carrey found "a perfect vehicle" in The Mask.

[17] Siskel, who had a similar dislike for Ace Ventura, praised Carrey's performance in The Mask by stating that he was "better used as an ingredient instead of as the plot".

A video game based on the movie, also titled The Mask, was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Black Pearl Software.

[34] Carrey eventually bailed on the project, forcing Nintendo Power to give the winner of the contest the equivalent cash value of the cameo role instead.