Despite receiving unfavorable reviews when it was released in 2003, Tom Shadyac’s fantasy comedy “Bruce Almighty” has had a profound cultural influence. It was a big commercial success thanks to Jim Carrey’s star power, who was at the height of his comedy and dramatic powers at the time. On an $81 million budget, it brought in $484.6 million worldwide. In the movie, Jim Carrey plays Bruce Nolan, a man who wants to work as a news anchor but is overtaken by his opponent. Dejected, he accuses God of his failure, which prompts a visit from the Supreme Being. The part of God was performed by Morgan Freeman. The cast also included Steve Carell, Philip Baker Hall, and Jennifer Aniston.
Brucifer: Universal Pictures threw a spanner in the works by blocking the interesting and bold sequel
Sadly, there was no sequel to the movie, but it did inspire a spinoff and an unauthorized remake in India called “God Tussi Great Ho.” As it turns out, Universal Pictures threw a spanner in the works by blocking the interesting and bold sequel that writers Steve Koren and Mark O’Keefe (Steve Oedekerk also contributed to the script) had planned. According to Steve Koren and Mark O’Keefe, when they offered the idea in 2010, even Carrey was enthusiastic. Though the studio declined.
Koren revealed to Syfy Wire, “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.” The movie, which would have been called “Brucifer.” Would have starred Carrey as an average Joe who strikes a contract with someone other than the Devil, effectively flipping the plot of the first one.
“You tend to lose your faith when the world seems unfair, and that’s what got him. It came from a serious place, but we were gonna write it in a very friendly way. We certainly didn’t want to depress people. So I think that scared [the studio] a little bit but to Jim’s credit, he totally understood that we were going to make a big comedy and thought everybody would connect with it.”Koren added.
Although the movie does sound intriguing, it is understandable why the studio was afraid to invest a lot of money in it given the collapse of Jim Carrey’s career around 2010.
