Exiting the ’90s, Jim Carrey pretty much had it all. He was at the top of his game with now-iconic comedies such as Dumb & Dumber, Liar Liar and the Ace Venture films, as well as The Truman Show and Man on the Moon, both hinting at the dramatic side he would come to embrace with films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Fast forward over a decade later, and it has been hit-and-miss with the actor.
He showed he still has it with I Love You Phillip Morris, but due to distribution entanglements and rejection from audiences, it barely saw the light of day. Then there have been disasters like The Number 23, Fun with Dick and Jane and although financially successful, films like Mr. Popper’s Penguins display an actor that may have reached the end of his course.
Now, in an effort to capitalize on one of his previous hits, Universal is doing what they do best (or worst, creatively speaking) and attempting to squeeze out a sequel to Bruce Almighty, the film that made them almost $500 million worldwide. It already got a spin-off with the exorbitantly budgeted Evan Almighty (the Steve Carell-starrer brought in less worldwide than its reported $175-million price-tag). Variety reports that the studio has brought on Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, the duo who wrote Yes Man, the Carrey film that brought in almost $225 million worldwide back in 2008.
There is no producer attached yet, but it is being developed with the idea that Carrey will return to star. The writing duo have given us the recently canceled show Allen Gregory and are also writing the Danny McBride-starring Bullies, which we previously reported on. I can’t imagine this one is a good idea, having already tried similar territory with a spin-off that failed miserably. We’ll see if Carrey’s next project, the magician comedy Burt Wonderstone, (which teams him with his Almighty-starrer Steve Carell) delivers, but for now this cash-grab should stay with the big guy upstairs, Morgan Freeman.
Do you want to see a Bruce Almighty sequel?