‘Bruce Almighty’ nearly had a sequel where Jim Carrey got Satan’s powers
A sequel to Bruce Almighty was pitched where Jim Carrey’s character received the powers of Satan.
Directed by Tom Shadyac, the 2003 fantasy comedy film followed struggling reporter Bruce Nolan who, after complaining to God (Morgan Freeman) that he isn’t doing his job properly, is offered the chance to become God for a week.
On opening night, the film’s screenwriters Steve Koren and Mark O’Keefe pitched a sequel to producer Michael Bostick, titled Brucifer, where Bruce gained Satan’s powers. The idea was later pitched to Universal in 2010 but, following the box office flop of spin-off sequel Evan Almighty in 2007, a third entry never progressed.
“[Carrey’s] manager and him wanted to do Brucifer,” Koren told Syfy Wire. “We went in and pitched it, but it never quite worked out, because it was later on… it would have been another giant movie and I don’t think they wanted to do it. It just didn’t work out for some reason, but a lot of people loved it, including Jim.”
Speaking about the plot of the pitched sequel, O’Keefe said: “It was going to be the Trials of Job, essentially. The world had not gone his way since he was God. Everything was great for a while; he was married and it all fell apart. He was once again questioning everything and then got a different way to solve things.”
The motivation for Bruce turning to Satan would have been the death of his girlfriend Grace (Jennifer Aniston), with the idea that he’d try and resurrect her. After Carrey heard the pitch, he suggested Grace should first return as a zombified corpse.
Speaking about Carrey’s response, Koren said: “I remember when we pitched it, he was laughing his ass off. Because we had her come back as Jennifer Aniston. He said, ‘No, she has to look like a zombie first and then we’ll make her beautiful again.’ We thought that was brilliant.”
Despite mixed reviews from critics, Bruce Almighty became a huge box office success, earning $484million (£407million) worldwide. Spin-off sequel Evan Almighty, starring Steve Carell, made less than its budget of $175million worldwide.
Carrey’s latest role was as Dr. Robotnik in Sonic The Hedgehog 2. He also made a guest appearance on The Weeknd’s last album, ‘Dawn FM’.
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Adam Starkey
NME
