Jim Carrey has headlined many comedy hits over the past 8-9 years, but none of them have achieved anywhere near the same levels of box office success as his 2003 starring vehicle, Bruce Almighty. Is it really any shock then that Bruce Almighty 2 is now being actively developed?
A spinoff/financial bust/critical bomb titled Evan Almighty was made back in 2007, featuring Steve Carell's scene-stealing anchor character from Bruce; this time around, Universal is planning a direct sequel to the aforementioned Carrey flick, with the intention of bringing the animated comedian back as leading man.
Variety says that studio heads are holding talks with screenwriters Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul to script the Bruce Almighty sequel, with the intent of bringing Carry back as the titular character. Considering the two were co-writers of the 2008 Carrey flick Yes Man, itself a cinematic cousin (in spirit) of Bruce, their potential involvement makes all the more sense.
To refresh your memory: Bruce Almighty revolves around Bruce Nolan (Carrey), a self-obsessed TV news reporter who continually complains to God when things in life don't go his way. However, the big man himself (Morgan Freeman) decides to teach Bruce a lesson by allowing the latter to become God for a while. Cue the wacky antics involving Carrey abusing his sacred powers for self-gain, followed by affirming life-lessons about being responsible, caring for others, etc., etc.
In other words, Bruce Almighty is your average high-concept comedy star vehicle that mixes broad humor with gooey sentiment. Most people would probably agree that this particular Carrey flick is one of the more entertaining titles that fits that description; even its detractors would admit, it could've been much worse (see: almost every Adam Sandler movie released in the past decade).
Does that mean that a Bruce Almighty sequel is something the majority of people want to see? Well...
The Bruce Almighty followup isn't the only Carry-centric comedy sequel in the works right now; the Farrelly Brothers are also actively planning Dumb & Dumber 2, which would pick up with the characters from the original 1994 hit in real-time (ie. some 20 years after the fact). There's no word yet on what exactly the plot of the new Bruce Almighty movie would entail, but it'd probably be something similar (ex. the film picks up with an older Bruce, who needs to be taught yet another lesson by God).
Between the two, it's fair to say that the Dumb & Dumber sequel reads as far more interesting, if only because it would be fascinating to see what much-older versions of Harry and Lloyd are doing with their lives. By comparison, it's kind of difficult right now to imagine how a second Bruce Almighty flick could feel like anything but a money-grubbing rehash of the original.
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We will continue to keep you updated on the status of Bruce Almighty 2 as the story develops.
Source: Variety