Evan Almighty
Encyclopedia
Evan Almighty is a 2007 American religious comedy film and the stand-alone sequel to Bruce Almighty
(2003). The film was directed by Tom Shadyac
, written by Steve Oedekerk
, and starring Steve Carell
as the title character. Morgan Freeman
also reprised his role as God
from the original film. Production of the film began in January 2006. Several visual effect companies were used to provide CGI
for the numerous animals and climactic
flood scene. Shadyac ensured the production had a positive environmental impact during principal photography
, and, along with Universal Pictures
, stressed the animals' conditions were acceptable despite PETA
objections.
By the time the film premiered on June 10, 2007, it had become the most expensive film comedy ever. The film grossed less than $174 million worldwide, making it a financial loss, and it received generally negative reviews. In October 2007, the film was released on DVD and HD DVD.
, former local television news reporter Evan Baxter (Steve Carell
) leaves his hometown of Buffalo, New York
and moves to suburban northern Virginia
, where his campaign promise to "change the world" is ridiculed by some, but Evan remains optimistic about his new position. On the first day on his job, Evan is given a spacious office and is invited to co-sponsor a bill with top congressman Chuck Long (John Goodman
), something rare for a first-timer. His family is happy, but due to the change in their situation to the move of Evan's wife Joan (Lauren Graham
) prays that her family will have a greater sense of togetherness.
Everything seems to be going well for Evan. Soon after Evan's arrival to Congress, however, strange things start to happen in his household: his alarm clock repeatedly goes off at 6:14 AM despite being set for a different time every night; large quantities of ancient tools and wood are delivered to his house daily without explanation; animals follow Evan without any apparent reason (with birds even getting into his office); he grows a beard that magically grows itself back no matter how many times he shaves; eight vacant lots in Evan's neighborhood are purchased in his name; a mysterious company named GO-4-WOOD delivers a shipment of lumber that Evan clearly did not order; and the number 614 follows him everywhere.
Evan soon learns that the number refers to the verse in the Book of Genesis, where God
(Morgan Freeman
) instructs Noah
to build an Ark
in preparation for a flood. God shows Himself to Evan, cordially insisting that Evan should build an Ark as well. Although Evan resists, God follows him using different guises and eventually convinces Evan to build this Ark. Joan, concerned about his behaviour, believes that Evan is having a mid-life crisis. Without the support of Joan, Evan enlists his three sons (Johnny Simmons
, Graham Phillips
, and Jimmy Bennett
) to assist him in the construction of the Ark. Reappearing, God tells Evan the flood will come at midday on September 22.
Animals continue to follow Evan around, getting increasingly annoying as time passes. At first, Long is unimpressed, and allows this behavior to occur, but warns Evan that he does not want any more animal surprises. Unfortunately for Evan, the animals follow him to Congress numerous times despite his efforts to detain them. This compels Evan to confess to Long, other Congressmen in the room, and the television cameras broadcasting the meeting that the reason for the animals, strange behaviour, robe, and beard is because of God and Evan's mission to build the Ark. Humiliating both Congress and the bill that Long is attempting to pass, Evan is temporarily suspended from Congress and removed from the bill. Joan becomes upset on Evan's behaviour, and leaves Evan because she believes he is insane. Evan does not let this stop himself and continues building the Ark alone, gaining international notice and public ridicule. Meanwhile, God appears to Joan, disguised as a waiter at a diner with the name "Al Mighty". In this guise, God tells Joan that He believes Himself and does not give things, but only the opportunity by which to obtain things, and gives an example of family togetherness. Having a revelation, Joan returns to Evan with newfound faith to finish the Ark together. Meanwhile, word reaches Evan that Long has commissioned a dam and has cut corners in doing so.
On September 22, Evan loads hundreds of animals onto the newly finished Ark in front of hundreds of spectators and live news crews. He invites the crowd to join them, but is made fun of. However, the police arrive on the scene with a wrecking ball and attempt to destroy the Ark because of its violation of numerous building codes. Noon arrives, and minutes pass with no sign of rain, provoking spectator scorn. A short downburst of rain does come, but it is short-lived. Joan asks Evan to leave the Ark, explaining that he has built it and succeeded in his mission; but at this moment, Evan sees Long's dam burst from the distance. With the water from the dam rushing towards them, all of the spectators immediately seek refuge in the Ark, which rides the flood through the streets of Washington, D.C.
. The Ark eventually reaches its final destination in front of the Capitol
, where other Congressmen are greeted by the Ark crashing into the side of the structure. Long, who is outraged that the flood did really happen, is told by Evan that the flood was caused by his defective dam, but Long cannot believe this, and says that he was told already that this could not happen again. Those events entice Evan and other Congressmen to turn against Long. Later, Evan and his family celebrate the events by going on a hiking trip together, where God reappears and tells Evan that the way to change the world is by doing one Act of Random Kindness
(ARK) at a time. The film ends when Evan and God do a happy dance together before God disappears, leaving Evan and his family behind.
and Josh Stolberg
. It became the subject of a seven-studio bidding war in April 2004. The script was sold to Sony Pictures in a deal worth $2,500,000 plus a percentage of the profits, a record for a spec script
from previously unproduced writers. Universal Studios
immediately made a deal to co-produce the script with Sony
and have Steve Oedekerk
rewrite it into the sequel to Bruce Almighty
. Steve Oedekerk had been involved with Bruce Almighty as an executive producer and co-writer of the screenplay (with Steve Koren
and Mark O'Keefe
, who wrote the story). The studio later discarded the original The Passion of the Ark script completely, and Oedekerk fashioned a new script from scratch (only he received final credit on the finished film as screenwriter). Jim Carrey was asked to reprise his role as Bruce in the sequel and, when he declined, director Tom Shadyac convinced Steve Carell to accept the leading role. Shadyac, reflecting on the first film, stated "[Carell] delivered some of the funniest stuff in the movie. We thought, 'Why not take that character and spin him off into a different film?'"
and Jennifer Aniston
declined to reprise their roles from Bruce Almighty
. Although he did act in a sequel to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
, Carrey has said that he is "not a big fan of doing the same character twice." This marks the third time (following Dumb and Dumberer and Son of the Mask
) that a sequel has been made to a film for which Carrey declined to reprise his role.
. Part of the budget was Carell's payroll, where he earned a reported $5 million for his leading role. The Virginia Film Office estimates the film brought $20–25 million to Virginia, with the majority of it in the Charlottesville
area.
subdivision called Old Trail. The ark was designed to meet the actual measurements of the biblical ark
, measuring 450 feet (137.2 m) long, 80 feet (24.4 m) wide, and 51 feet (15.5 m) high. The ark's layout was also based on pictures in several children's books that crew members had read in their childhoods. When the characters were filmed during the day building the ark or were on location elsewhere, crew members would further construct the ark at night. A concrete base was built to support the weight of the large ark; after filming was completed, the ark was taken down in a week, and the base in another week.
In disassembling the set, everything that was salvageable from the ark was donated to Habitat for Humanity. "Leave no trace" was the slogan used by the director as part of the DVD's bonus features, "The Almighty Green Set".
and making Carell wear custom wigs. The wigs consisted of both human and yak
hair. With his new look, Carell was sometimes nicknamed "Mountain Man", "Retrosexual", or "Unabomber
." For his costumes, designers spoke with textile
experts, researched historical information on the clothing that was likely worn at the time of Noah, and used aged fibers for the clothing.
Scenes for the film were filmed in various locations in Virginia
, including areas in and around Crozet
, Waynesboro
, Richmond
, Charlottesville
, and Staunton
, though some filming did take place at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California.
used throughout the film, companies Rhythm & Hues
(R&H) and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) developed different parts of the film. R&H focused on the animation of the animals, while ILM completed the final scene of the ark rushing through Washington D.C. Lindy De Quattro, the ILM associate visual effects supervisor, revealed that "This is the first time where we had to do a whole series of shots that were happening mid-day, where you were going to get a really long look at the water and what it was doing." The company initially experienced problems creating the water effects and had to develop new tools which would choreograph the movements of the water. In addition, ILM used similar tools that were used on their prior film Poseidon
. Lighting
was also an issue as the characters on the ark had been filmed on a greenscreen
stage, and the visual effects
company had to ensure that the lighting matched that of the characters and the outside setting. Details were added to the ark for long-distance shots to make the design of the ark more appealing and relate the ark's size to scale in comparison to the amount of water. To complete the scene, ILM used thirty to sixty crew members and produced 200 shots over a yearlong period between April 2006 and May 2007.
Rhythm & Hues created 300 pairs of animals for use on the ark and fifteen pairs with higher detail for closeup shots. R&H was also assisted by C.I.S. Hollywood, another visual effects company, who provided a large number of composites, involving hundreds of greenscreen animal elements. In scenes where there are multiple species of animals, crew members would film the animals on the greenscreen and R&H and C.I.S would digitally add the animals one at a time, sometimes taking several weeks to a couple months. Andy Arnett, the animation supervisor, declared that "The research was extensive. It took six or seven months to perfect the look and feel of the animals before we had the first shot out the door."
For the scene in Congressman Long's office, CGI was used the entire time for the fish that follow Evan around from the fish tank
. Cafe FX
, the visual effects company hired for the scene, ordered ten different kinds of tropical fish
from a local store and studied their movements to imitate them on screen using computer animation. Jeff Goldman, the visual effects supervisor, stated "Early in the sequence, we mimicked the actual behavior of the fish in our animation, but as the scene plays out, the fish are a counterpoint to Steve Carell's comedic timing."
Grace Hill Media, a marketing firm that targets religious
Americans, held exclusive screenings of the film in mid-June in fifty cities in the United States to reach religious moviegoers. The firm was also used for marketing Bruce Almighty
, The Da Vinci Code
, and The Passion of the Christ
. Grace Hill provided free screenings to blogs in exchange for publicity on the blogs.
The film and its subsequent home video release was marketed to Christians and their churches through a "kindness campaign" called Ark ALMIGHTY.
The first trailer of the film premiered on March 29, 2007 for a marathon of The Office
, which also stars Steve Carell and Ed Helms
. For online advertising, an eight-minute clip of a scene was released on Yahoo!
two days before the release of the film. The premiere for the film was held on June 10, 2007 and guests included Adam Sandler
, David Hasselhoff
, Kate Flannery
, Eddie Murphy
, Kevin James, and Mindy Kaling
, among others.
felt the film reflected environmental themes of how humans are stewards of God's creation. In keeping with the themes, Evan Almighty became NBC Universal's first film to offset the production's carbon emissions. Producer Michael Bostick revealed how the emissions were offset:
in Warsaw, Virginia
and the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge
near Modesto, California
. He also bought bikes for all the cast and crew. In addition, rather than simply demolishing sets, Shadyac tried to donate houses built for the production and had the Ark set recycled, by donating materials to Habitat for Humanity
. During the premiere of the film for cast and crew at Universal Citywalk, the attendees were encouraged to donate to a campaign to plant trees in forests around the world. The after party used recycled cups and plates to offset the use of resources. Shadyac also required that when Industrial Light & Magic developed the final climatic scene, that the CGI flood did not appear to harm any of the trees in the scene.
The film partnered with the website Get On Board Now, which focused on the importance of conservation during production of the film. Donations were taken at the website for The Conservation Fund, which paid for the planting of 15,000 trees.
oversaw the 177 species of animals that were used in the film. In scenes including both predators and prey, the animals were digitally added instead to ensure their safety. The American Humane Association gave its permission for the film to display "No animals were harmed in the making of this movie" over the closing credits.
Animal rights organization PETA
accused the film's producers of using animals that had previously been abused. Two chimpanzees who appear in the movie, Cody and Sable, were surrendered by their owner to settle a lawsuit that documented allegations of beatings and mistreatment. The film's director, Tom Shadyac, said of PETA's criticisms "They're not wrong. There's a certain amount of hypocrisy whenever you work with animals, even to show, which we hope we're showing, that respect of all of God's creation...I don't know. I respect their criticism." PETA was also critical of Birds & Animals Unlimited, the primary animal supplier to the film, for alleged serious and continuing violations of the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, including failure to comply with veterinary care requirements and failure to provide shelter from heat and sunlight, which PETA details and claims it can document. A Universal Studios spokesperson declared:
, and an 8% rating from its "Top Critics". At the website MetaCritic
, which utilizes a normalized
rating system, the film earned a rating of 37/100 based on 33 reviews. Richard Roeper
in his review of the film commended Jim Carrey
for declining to reprise his role in "three of the worst sequels of all time", which included Dumb and Dumberer, Son of the Mask
, and Evan Almighty. He continued: "Evan Almighty is a paper-thin alleged comedy with a laugh drought of biblical proportions, and a condescendingly simplistic spiritual message." Several reviews credit Carell's performance to significantly improving the humor of the film. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone
declared the film the year's Worst Epic on his list of the Worst Movies of 2007.
Before Evan Almighty was released, it was nominated for "Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet" at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards
. Competing against seven other nominees, it lost to Transformers. According to box office figures, the film is the second highest-grossing film about "Supernatural Comedies with Religious Elements" according to Box Office Mojo
, directly behind Bruce Almighty
.
. Secretary-General Maamor Osman claimed that the film was depicting the great flood as comedy and characterized God with the portrayal of a human, both of which are insulting to Islam. Similarly there was some public protest against Bruce Almighty being shown in theaters, but that movie was released on DVD and is now shown on television broadcasts. Evan Almighty was still released in Malaysia on August 23, 2007.
). Nikki Rocco, the president of distribution for Universal Pictures
declared "We never expected it to be much higher...it is not unusual for family films to open at a level like this and build. This film will have legs." Despite the unfavorable opening, it managed to remain at the third spot at the box office in its second week, before dropping to fifth place in its third week.
Internationally, the film also opened in first place in Russia and Ukraine
, earning $1.5 million in Russia with 329 venues and $179,000 in Ukraine at 64 locations. The gross in the opening weekends for the two countries was 10% and 11%, respectively, bigger than the opening for Bruce Almighty. Altogether, the film has earned $173,391,888 worldwide with $100,462,298 in the U.S. and $72,929,590 in the international box office.
and DVD on October 9, 2007 and was the fourth-most rented DVD of the week earning $6.4 million. In the film's first six weeks of release it earned $27,676,676 in domestic DVD sales. The HD-DVD and DVD's special features include deleted scenes, outtakes, cast interviews, and footage of the animals used in the film.
in the film. Their version is not on the soundtrack, but it appears as a bonus track on their album Still Feels Good
. Also not included on the soundtrack are Elton John
's 2006 hit, "Just Like Noah's Ark" of which only a little bit is heard during the start of building the ark, and John Mayer's
"Waiting on the World to Change
", used in the main ark-building montage. "Ready For a Miracle" was released as a single for the soundtrack by American country pop recording artist, LeAnn Rimes
.
Rascal Flatts' version of "Revolution" peaked at number 57 on the Hot Country Songs
charts, and "The Power of One" by Bomshel
reached number 52 on the same.
was also nominated for Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year while "Ready for a Miracle" by LeAnn Rimes
won the Dove Award for Traditional Gospel Recorded Song of the Year.
Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains to God that He isn't doing His job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try...
(2003). The film was directed by Tom Shadyac
Tom Shadyac
Thomas Peter "Tom" Shadyac is an American comedian, director, screenwriter, and producer. Shadyac, who was the youngest joke-writer ever for comedian Bob Hope, is widely known for writing and directing the films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, and the...
, written by Steve Oedekerk
Steve Oedekerk
Stephen Brenton "Steve" Oedekerk is an American comedian, director, editor, producer, screenwriter and actor. Oedekerk is best known for his collaborations with actor Jim Carrey and director Tom Shadyac , his series of "Thumbmation" shorts and his film Kung Pow: Enter the Fist .-Life and...
, and starring Steve Carell
Steve Carell
Steven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
as the title character. Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
also reprised his role as God
God in Christianity
In Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe. God is believed by most Christians to be immanent , while others believe the plan of redemption show he will be immanent later...
from the original film. Production of the film began in January 2006. Several visual effect companies were used to provide CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
for the numerous animals and climactic
Climax (narrative)
The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...
flood scene. Shadyac ensured the production had a positive environmental impact during principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
, and, along with Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, stressed the animals' conditions were acceptable despite PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
objections.
By the time the film premiered on June 10, 2007, it had become the most expensive film comedy ever. The film grossed less than $174 million worldwide, making it a financial loss, and it received generally negative reviews. In October 2007, the film was released on DVD and HD DVD.
Plot
Newly elected to CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, former local television news reporter Evan Baxter (Steve Carell
Steve Carell
Steven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
) leaves his hometown of Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
and moves to suburban northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
, where his campaign promise to "change the world" is ridiculed by some, but Evan remains optimistic about his new position. On the first day on his job, Evan is given a spacious office and is invited to co-sponsor a bill with top congressman Chuck Long (John Goodman
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
), something rare for a first-timer. His family is happy, but due to the change in their situation to the move of Evan's wife Joan (Lauren Graham
Lauren Graham
Lauren Helen Graham is an American actress and producer. She is best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on the WB Network dramedy series Gilmore Girls and Sarah Braverman on Parenthood.-Early life:...
) prays that her family will have a greater sense of togetherness.
Everything seems to be going well for Evan. Soon after Evan's arrival to Congress, however, strange things start to happen in his household: his alarm clock repeatedly goes off at 6:14 AM despite being set for a different time every night; large quantities of ancient tools and wood are delivered to his house daily without explanation; animals follow Evan without any apparent reason (with birds even getting into his office); he grows a beard that magically grows itself back no matter how many times he shaves; eight vacant lots in Evan's neighborhood are purchased in his name; a mysterious company named GO-4-WOOD delivers a shipment of lumber that Evan clearly did not order; and the number 614 follows him everywhere.
Evan soon learns that the number refers to the verse in the Book of Genesis, where God
God in Christianity
In Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe. God is believed by most Christians to be immanent , while others believe the plan of redemption show he will be immanent later...
(Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
) instructs Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
to build an Ark
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
in preparation for a flood. God shows Himself to Evan, cordially insisting that Evan should build an Ark as well. Although Evan resists, God follows him using different guises and eventually convinces Evan to build this Ark. Joan, concerned about his behaviour, believes that Evan is having a mid-life crisis. Without the support of Joan, Evan enlists his three sons (Johnny Simmons
Johnny Simmons
Johnny Simmons is an American actor.Simmons was born in Montgomery, Alabama and was raised in Dallas, Texas, where he attended Nathan Adams Elementary and T. C. Marsh Middle School. He is a 2005 graduate of W. T. White High School...
, Graham Phillips
Graham Phillips (actor)
Graham David Phillips is an American actor and singer.-Personal life:Phillips was born in Laguna Beach, California. During his K-9 school years he attended St...
, and Jimmy Bennett
Jimmy Bennett
James Michael "Jimmy" Bennett is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as a child actor in Daddy Day Care, Hostage, Poseidon, and more recently in Orphan and as young James T. Kirk in Star Trek...
) to assist him in the construction of the Ark. Reappearing, God tells Evan the flood will come at midday on September 22.
Animals continue to follow Evan around, getting increasingly annoying as time passes. At first, Long is unimpressed, and allows this behavior to occur, but warns Evan that he does not want any more animal surprises. Unfortunately for Evan, the animals follow him to Congress numerous times despite his efforts to detain them. This compels Evan to confess to Long, other Congressmen in the room, and the television cameras broadcasting the meeting that the reason for the animals, strange behaviour, robe, and beard is because of God and Evan's mission to build the Ark. Humiliating both Congress and the bill that Long is attempting to pass, Evan is temporarily suspended from Congress and removed from the bill. Joan becomes upset on Evan's behaviour, and leaves Evan because she believes he is insane. Evan does not let this stop himself and continues building the Ark alone, gaining international notice and public ridicule. Meanwhile, God appears to Joan, disguised as a waiter at a diner with the name "Al Mighty". In this guise, God tells Joan that He believes Himself and does not give things, but only the opportunity by which to obtain things, and gives an example of family togetherness. Having a revelation, Joan returns to Evan with newfound faith to finish the Ark together. Meanwhile, word reaches Evan that Long has commissioned a dam and has cut corners in doing so.
On September 22, Evan loads hundreds of animals onto the newly finished Ark in front of hundreds of spectators and live news crews. He invites the crowd to join them, but is made fun of. However, the police arrive on the scene with a wrecking ball and attempt to destroy the Ark because of its violation of numerous building codes. Noon arrives, and minutes pass with no sign of rain, provoking spectator scorn. A short downburst of rain does come, but it is short-lived. Joan asks Evan to leave the Ark, explaining that he has built it and succeeded in his mission; but at this moment, Evan sees Long's dam burst from the distance. With the water from the dam rushing towards them, all of the spectators immediately seek refuge in the Ark, which rides the flood through the streets of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The Ark eventually reaches its final destination in front of the Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
, where other Congressmen are greeted by the Ark crashing into the side of the structure. Long, who is outraged that the flood did really happen, is told by Evan that the flood was caused by his defective dam, but Long cannot believe this, and says that he was told already that this could not happen again. Those events entice Evan and other Congressmen to turn against Long. Later, Evan and his family celebrate the events by going on a hiking trip together, where God reappears and tells Evan that the way to change the world is by doing one Act of Random Kindness
Random act of kindness
A random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or people wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual person or people. The phrase may have been coined by Anne Herbert, who claims to have written "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty" on a place mat at a...
(ARK) at a time. The film ends when Evan and God do a happy dance together before God disappears, leaving Evan and his family behind.
Cast
- Steve CarellSteve CarellSteven John "Steve" Carell is an American comedian, actor, voice artist, producer, writer, and director. Although Carell is notable for his role on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he found greater fame in the late 2000s for playing Michael Scott on The Office...
as Evan Baxter - Morgan FreemanMorgan FreemanMorgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
as GodGod in ChristianityIn Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe. God is believed by most Christians to be immanent , while others believe the plan of redemption show he will be immanent later... - Lauren GrahamLauren GrahamLauren Helen Graham is an American actress and producer. She is best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on the WB Network dramedy series Gilmore Girls and Sarah Braverman on Parenthood.-Early life:...
as Joan Baxter - Johnny SimmonsJohnny SimmonsJohnny Simmons is an American actor.Simmons was born in Montgomery, Alabama and was raised in Dallas, Texas, where he attended Nathan Adams Elementary and T. C. Marsh Middle School. He is a 2005 graduate of W. T. White High School...
as Dylan Baxter - Graham PhillipsGraham Phillips (actor)Graham David Phillips is an American actor and singer.-Personal life:Phillips was born in Laguna Beach, California. During his K-9 school years he attended St...
as Jordan Baxter - Jimmy BennettJimmy BennettJames Michael "Jimmy" Bennett is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as a child actor in Daddy Day Care, Hostage, Poseidon, and more recently in Orphan and as young James T. Kirk in Star Trek...
as Ryan Baxter - John GoodmanJohn GoodmanJohn Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
as Congressman Chuck Long - Wanda SykesWanda SykesWanda Sykes is an American writer, stand-up comedian, actress, and voice artist. She earned the 1999 Emmy Award for her writing on The Chris Rock Show. In 2004 Entertainment Weekly named Sykes as one of the 25 funniest people in America...
as Rita - John Michael HigginsJohn Michael HigginsJohn Michael Higgins is an American actor whose film credits include Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, the role of David Letterman in HBO's The Late Shift, and a starring role in the American version of Kath & Kim....
as Marty - Jonah HillJonah HillJonah Hill Feldstein , known professionally as Jonah Hill, is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, and comedian. Hill is best known roles for his roles in Superbad, Knocked Up, and Get Him to the Greek. He made his theatrical debut in I Heart Huckabees, alongside Jason Schwartzman and Dustin...
as Eugene - Molly ShannonMolly ShannonMolly Helen Shannon is an American comic actress best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995–2001 and for starring in the films Superstar and Year of the Dog. More recently, she starred in NBC's Kath & Kim from 2008–2009 and on the TBS animated series Neighbors from...
as Eve Adams - Harve PresnellHarve PresnellHarve Presnell was an American actor and singer. He began his career in the mid 1950s as a classical baritone, singing with orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States...
as Congressman Burrows - Ed HelmsEd HelmsEdward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
as Ark Reporter - Simon HelbergSimon HelbergSimon Maxwell Helberg is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Howard Wolowitz in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. In its fourth season, he also appeared on the sketch comedy series MADtv for five episodes...
as staffer - Jon StewartJon StewartJon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
as himself
Screenplay
The film's screenplay was originally titled The Passion of the Ark and was written by Bobby FlorsheimBobby Florsheim
Robert Florsheim is an American screenwriter, best known for co-writing The Passion Of The Ark with Josh Stolberg, . Their original script was reported by Daily Variety as the highest priced spec script ever sold by unproduced screenwriters...
and Josh Stolberg
Josh Stolberg
Josh Stolberg is an American film director, screenwriter, and photographer. He won the Seashore Award and the Queen Spirit Award as a director of the film The Life Coach. He also wrote and directed the 2005 film Kids in America, as well as made a cameo appearance as a security guard in the film...
. It became the subject of a seven-studio bidding war in April 2004. The script was sold to Sony Pictures in a deal worth $2,500,000 plus a percentage of the profits, a record for a spec script
Spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....
from previously unproduced writers. Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
immediately made a deal to co-produce the script with Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
and have Steve Oedekerk
Steve Oedekerk
Stephen Brenton "Steve" Oedekerk is an American comedian, director, editor, producer, screenwriter and actor. Oedekerk is best known for his collaborations with actor Jim Carrey and director Tom Shadyac , his series of "Thumbmation" shorts and his film Kung Pow: Enter the Fist .-Life and...
rewrite it into the sequel to Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains to God that He isn't doing His job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try...
. Steve Oedekerk had been involved with Bruce Almighty as an executive producer and co-writer of the screenplay (with Steve Koren
Steve Koren
Steven Wayne Koren is an American screenwriter. He was one of the writers for the movies Bruce Almighty, Click, Superstar, and A Night at the Roxbury, and wrote for Saturday Night Live and Seinfeld....
and Mark O'Keefe
Mark O'Keefe
Mark O'Keefe is a comedy screenwriter for feature films and television. He wrote and produced the 2003 film Bruce Almighty, starring Jim Carrey and the 2006 film Click, starring Adam Sandler...
, who wrote the story). The studio later discarded the original The Passion of the Ark script completely, and Oedekerk fashioned a new script from scratch (only he received final credit on the finished film as screenwriter). Jim Carrey was asked to reprise his role as Bruce in the sequel and, when he declined, director Tom Shadyac convinced Steve Carell to accept the leading role. Shadyac, reflecting on the first film, stated "[Carell] delivered some of the funniest stuff in the movie. We thought, 'Why not take that character and spin him off into a different film?'"
Casting
Jim CarreyJim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
and Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
declined to reprise their roles from Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains to God that He isn't doing His job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try...
. Although he did act in a sequel to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Jim Carrey. It co-stars Courteney Cox, Tone Loc, Sean Young and former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino....
, Carrey has said that he is "not a big fan of doing the same character twice." This marks the third time (following Dumb and Dumberer and Son of the Mask
Son of the Mask
Son of the Mask is a 2005 American fantasy family-comedy film directed by Lawrence Guterman, starring Jamie Kennedy as Tim Avery, an aspiring cartoonist from Fringe City who has just had his first child born with the powers of the Mask. It is the stand-alone sequel to the successful 1994 film The...
) that a sequel has been made to a film for which Carrey declined to reprise his role.
Budget
The initial budget, at approximately $140 million, led Evan Almighty to become the most expensive comedy film ever made. Added costs such as set construction, visual effects, and problems with filming multiple animals in a controlled location brought the budget up to $175 million. Once marketing for the film was also included, the film's entire budget was estimated to be around $200 million. The ballooning budget caused Sony to drop the project and hand it over entirely to Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
. Part of the budget was Carell's payroll, where he earned a reported $5 million for his leading role. The Virginia Film Office estimates the film brought $20–25 million to Virginia, with the majority of it in the Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
area.
Ark design and construction
Construction of the ark began in January 2006 and the scenes involving the ark were shot in a Crozet, VirginiaCrozet, Virginia
Crozet is a census-designated place in Albemarle County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is situated along the I-64 corridor approximately west of Charlottesville and east of Staunton. Originally called "Wayland's Crossing", it was renamed in 1870 in honor of Colonel Claudius Crozet, the...
subdivision called Old Trail. The ark was designed to meet the actual measurements of the biblical ark
Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
, measuring 450 feet (137.2 m) long, 80 feet (24.4 m) wide, and 51 feet (15.5 m) high. The ark's layout was also based on pictures in several children's books that crew members had read in their childhoods. When the characters were filmed during the day building the ark or were on location elsewhere, crew members would further construct the ark at night. A concrete base was built to support the weight of the large ark; after filming was completed, the ark was taken down in a week, and the base in another week.
In disassembling the set, everything that was salvageable from the ark was donated to Habitat for Humanity. "Leave no trace" was the slogan used by the director as part of the DVD's bonus features, "The Almighty Green Set".
Costumes and filming locations
To create Evan's beard and long hair, three designers would take three hours each day adding individual hairs using prosthetic adhesiveAdhesive
An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...
and making Carell wear custom wigs. The wigs consisted of both human and yak
Yak
The yak, Bos grunniens or Bos mutus, is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia. In addition to a large domestic population, there is a small, vulnerable wild yak population...
hair. With his new look, Carell was sometimes nicknamed "Mountain Man", "Retrosexual", or "Unabomber
Theodore Kaczynski
Theodore John "Ted" Kaczynski , also known as the "Unabomber" , is an American mathematician, social critic, anarcho-primitivist, and Neo-Luddite who engaged in a mail bombing campaign that spanned nearly 20 years, killing three people and injuring 23 others.Kaczynski was born in Chicago, Illinois,...
." For his costumes, designers spoke with textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
experts, researched historical information on the clothing that was likely worn at the time of Noah, and used aged fibers for the clothing.
Scenes for the film were filmed in various locations in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, including areas in and around Crozet
Crozet, Virginia
Crozet is a census-designated place in Albemarle County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is situated along the I-64 corridor approximately west of Charlottesville and east of Staunton. Originally called "Wayland's Crossing", it was renamed in 1870 in honor of Colonel Claudius Crozet, the...
, Waynesboro
Waynesboro, Virginia
Waynesboro, deriving its name from General Anthony Wayne, is an independent city surrounded by Augusta County in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 21,006 in 2010.....
, Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
, and Staunton
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
, though some filming did take place at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California.
Effects
For the CGIComputer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
used throughout the film, companies Rhythm & Hues
Rhythm and Hues Studios
Rhythm & Hues Studios is a visual effects studio serving the major film studios. It is known for its computer-generated 3D character animation. Recognized as one of the top facilities of its kind in the world, Rhythm & Hues has contributed to more than 150 feature films...
(R&H) and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) developed different parts of the film. R&H focused on the animation of the animals, while ILM completed the final scene of the ark rushing through Washington D.C. Lindy De Quattro, the ILM associate visual effects supervisor, revealed that "This is the first time where we had to do a whole series of shots that were happening mid-day, where you were going to get a really long look at the water and what it was doing." The company initially experienced problems creating the water effects and had to develop new tools which would choreograph the movements of the water. In addition, ILM used similar tools that were used on their prior film Poseidon
Poseidon (film)
Poseidon is a 2006 disaster film directed by Wolfgang Petersen, the third film adaptation of the novel The Poseidon Adventure written by Paul Gallico, and a loose remake of the 1972 film of the same name. It stars Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and Richard Dreyfuss. It was directed by Wolfgang Petersen...
. Lighting
Lighting
Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight...
was also an issue as the characters on the ark had been filmed on a greenscreen
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
stage, and the visual effects
Visual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
company had to ensure that the lighting matched that of the characters and the outside setting. Details were added to the ark for long-distance shots to make the design of the ark more appealing and relate the ark's size to scale in comparison to the amount of water. To complete the scene, ILM used thirty to sixty crew members and produced 200 shots over a yearlong period between April 2006 and May 2007.
Rhythm & Hues created 300 pairs of animals for use on the ark and fifteen pairs with higher detail for closeup shots. R&H was also assisted by C.I.S. Hollywood, another visual effects company, who provided a large number of composites, involving hundreds of greenscreen animal elements. In scenes where there are multiple species of animals, crew members would film the animals on the greenscreen and R&H and C.I.S would digitally add the animals one at a time, sometimes taking several weeks to a couple months. Andy Arnett, the animation supervisor, declared that "The research was extensive. It took six or seven months to perfect the look and feel of the animals before we had the first shot out the door."
For the scene in Congressman Long's office, CGI was used the entire time for the fish that follow Evan around from the fish tank
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
. Cafe FX
Cafe FX
CafeFX was an award-winning feature film visual effects facility offering visual effects production and supervision, CG character creation, and 3D animation. Founded in 1993 by Jeff Barnes and David Ebner, CafeFX was located in a studio on an eight-acre campus in Santa Maria, the heart of Santa...
, the visual effects company hired for the scene, ordered ten different kinds of tropical fish
Tropical fish
Tropical fish include fish found in tropical environments around the world, including both freshwater and salt water species.Tropical fish are popular as aquarium fish, due to their often bright coloration...
from a local store and studied their movements to imitate them on screen using computer animation. Jeff Goldman, the visual effects supervisor, stated "Early in the sequence, we mimicked the actual behavior of the fish in our animation, but as the scene plays out, the fish are a counterpoint to Steve Carell's comedic timing."
Marketing
In late May during production, the media learned that director Tom Shadyac angrily complained to producers, saying "I'm not seeing any ads, and I don't know why. I'm not getting answers. People are giving me information that isn't true...I'm only hearing about all the other summer movies, and nothing about mine." Shadyac also fired his marketing consultants that he had used for prior films due to his thoughts over the mishandling of the marketing. He later apologized for his outburst with producers, and claimed that it was as a result of his nervousness before the film's release.Grace Hill Media, a marketing firm that targets religious
Abrahamic religions
Abrahamic religions are the monotheistic faiths emphasizing and tracing their common origin to Abraham or recognizing a spiritual tradition identified with him...
Americans, held exclusive screenings of the film in mid-June in fifty cities in the United States to reach religious moviegoers. The firm was also used for marketing Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains to God that He isn't doing His job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try...
, The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code (film)
The Da Vinci Code is a 2006 American mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard. The screenplay was written by Akiva Goldsman and based on Dan Brown's worldwide bestselling 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code...
, and The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
. Grace Hill provided free screenings to blogs in exchange for publicity on the blogs.
The film and its subsequent home video release was marketed to Christians and their churches through a "kindness campaign" called Ark ALMIGHTY.
The first trailer of the film premiered on March 29, 2007 for a marathon of The Office
The Office (US TV series)
The Office is an American comedy television series broadcast by NBC. An adaptation of the original BBC series of the same name, it depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company...
, which also stars Steve Carell and Ed Helms
Ed Helms
Edward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
. For online advertising, an eight-minute clip of a scene was released on Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
two days before the release of the film. The premiere for the film was held on June 10, 2007 and guests included Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
, David Hasselhoff
David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch...
, Kate Flannery
Kate Flannery
Katherine Patricia "Kate" Flannery is an American actress best known for playing the role of Meredith Palmer on the NBC hit series The Office.-Personal life:...
, Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
, Kevin James, and Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling
Vera Mindy Chokalingam , better known as Mindy Kaling, is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer who plays Kelly Kapoor on the NBC sitcom The Office. Kaling is also a co-executive producer and writer of several of the show's episodes.-Early life:Kaling was born Vera Chokalingam in...
, among others.
Environmental impact
Director Tom ShadyacTom Shadyac
Thomas Peter "Tom" Shadyac is an American comedian, director, screenwriter, and producer. Shadyac, who was the youngest joke-writer ever for comedian Bob Hope, is widely known for writing and directing the films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, and the...
felt the film reflected environmental themes of how humans are stewards of God's creation. In keeping with the themes, Evan Almighty became NBC Universal's first film to offset the production's carbon emissions. Producer Michael Bostick revealed how the emissions were offset:
"We worked closely with The Conservation Fund to calculate our carbon emissions from what we used on the movie—whether from vehicles used or any of the construction equipment. Once our carbon emissions were calculated, we planted trees that will effectively zero out our climate-changing footprint left behind from the movie."Shadyac accomplished this by requiring crew members to plant 2,050 trees at the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge
The Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located along the Rappahannock River near Warsaw, Virginia; one of four refuges that comprise the Eastern Virginia Rivers National Wildlife Refuge Complex, it was established under the jurisdiction of the United...
in Warsaw, Virginia
Warsaw, Virginia
Warsaw is the county seat of Richmond County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,375 at the 2000 census.-History:The original name of the town was Richmond Courthouse. In 1830 the town's named changed to Warsaw...
and the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge
San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge
The San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge encompasses more than of riparian woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands that host a diversity of wildlife native to California's Central Valley...
near Modesto, California
Modesto, California
Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
. He also bought bikes for all the cast and crew. In addition, rather than simply demolishing sets, Shadyac tried to donate houses built for the production and had the Ark set recycled, by donating materials to Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat For Humanity International , generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or simply Habitat, is an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization devoted to building "simple, decent, and affordable" housing, a self-described "Christian housing ministry." The international...
. During the premiere of the film for cast and crew at Universal Citywalk, the attendees were encouraged to donate to a campaign to plant trees in forests around the world. The after party used recycled cups and plates to offset the use of resources. Shadyac also required that when Industrial Light & Magic developed the final climatic scene, that the CGI flood did not appear to harm any of the trees in the scene.
The film partnered with the website Get On Board Now, which focused on the importance of conservation during production of the film. Donations were taken at the website for The Conservation Fund, which paid for the planting of 15,000 trees.
Animal welfare concerns
The American Humane AssociationAmerican Humane Association
The American Humane Association is an organization founded in 1877 dedicated to the welfare of animals and children.The AHA's Film and Television Unit has monitored the welfare of animals during the production of films and television programs since 1940. They are the source of the familiar...
oversaw the 177 species of animals that were used in the film. In scenes including both predators and prey, the animals were digitally added instead to ensure their safety. The American Humane Association gave its permission for the film to display "No animals were harmed in the making of this movie" over the closing credits.
Animal rights organization PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
accused the film's producers of using animals that had previously been abused. Two chimpanzees who appear in the movie, Cody and Sable, were surrendered by their owner to settle a lawsuit that documented allegations of beatings and mistreatment. The film's director, Tom Shadyac, said of PETA's criticisms "They're not wrong. There's a certain amount of hypocrisy whenever you work with animals, even to show, which we hope we're showing, that respect of all of God's creation...I don't know. I respect their criticism." PETA was also critical of Birds & Animals Unlimited, the primary animal supplier to the film, for alleged serious and continuing violations of the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, including failure to comply with veterinary care requirements and failure to provide shelter from heat and sunlight, which PETA details and claims it can document. A Universal Studios spokesperson declared:
"The live animals used in the filming of Evan Almighty were supplemented by a great number of computer-generated animals, but it would have been impossible to depend on CGI exclusively as some key scenes in the film demonstrate the need for peaceful and productive co-existence between man and animals. One of the most prominent, inescapable messages of the film is the responsibility that humans have to protect and care for animals."
Reception
Evan Almighty received mainly negative reviews from multiple critics and viewers. The film has a 23% approval rating based on 191 reviews from critics at the review aggregator website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, and an 8% rating from its "Top Critics". At the website MetaCritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which utilizes a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating system, the film earned a rating of 37/100 based on 33 reviews. Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
in his review of the film commended Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey
James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
for declining to reprise his role in "three of the worst sequels of all time", which included Dumb and Dumberer, Son of the Mask
Son of the Mask
Son of the Mask is a 2005 American fantasy family-comedy film directed by Lawrence Guterman, starring Jamie Kennedy as Tim Avery, an aspiring cartoonist from Fringe City who has just had his first child born with the powers of the Mask. It is the stand-alone sequel to the successful 1994 film The...
, and Evan Almighty. He continued: "Evan Almighty is a paper-thin alleged comedy with a laugh drought of biblical proportions, and a condescendingly simplistic spiritual message." Several reviews credit Carell's performance to significantly improving the humor of the film. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
declared the film the year's Worst Epic on his list of the Worst Movies of 2007.
Before Evan Almighty was released, it was nominated for "Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet" at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards
MTV Movie Awards
The MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general...
. Competing against seven other nominees, it lost to Transformers. According to box office figures, the film is the second highest-grossing film about "Supernatural Comedies with Religious Elements" according to Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
, directly behind Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains to God that He isn't doing His job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try...
.
Controversy
Malaysia's Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) called for a ban on the film, claiming it is offensive to IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Secretary-General Maamor Osman claimed that the film was depicting the great flood as comedy and characterized God with the portrayal of a human, both of which are insulting to Islam. Similarly there was some public protest against Bruce Almighty being shown in theaters, but that movie was released on DVD and is now shown on television broadcasts. Evan Almighty was still released in Malaysia on August 23, 2007.
Box office
Though Evan Almighty was very hyped, especially with churchgoers, and had a budget double that of Bruce Almighty, it performed under expectations. On its first weekend, it opened in 5,200 screens in 3,604 theaters and earned roughly $31.1 million (on its first two opening days the film earned $11.4 million and $8.3 million on Sunday). The opening was less than half of the first film's $68 million weekend ($85 million counting Memorial DayMemorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
). Nikki Rocco, the president of distribution for Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
declared "We never expected it to be much higher...it is not unusual for family films to open at a level like this and build. This film will have legs." Despite the unfavorable opening, it managed to remain at the third spot at the box office in its second week, before dropping to fifth place in its third week.
Internationally, the film also opened in first place in Russia and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, earning $1.5 million in Russia with 329 venues and $179,000 in Ukraine at 64 locations. The gross in the opening weekends for the two countries was 10% and 11%, respectively, bigger than the opening for Bruce Almighty. Altogether, the film has earned $173,391,888 worldwide with $100,462,298 in the U.S. and $72,929,590 in the international box office.
Home media
The film was released on HD DVDHD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
and DVD on October 9, 2007 and was the fourth-most rented DVD of the week earning $6.4 million. In the film's first six weeks of release it earned $27,676,676 in domestic DVD sales. The HD-DVD and DVD's special features include deleted scenes, outtakes, cast interviews, and footage of the animals used in the film.
Soundtrack
Evan Almighty: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture debuted on July 3, 2007, several days before the film's U.S. release, while the soundtrack debuted on June 19, 2007. "Revolution" was performed by Rascal FlattsRascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts is an American country music band that originated in Columbus, Ohio, United States of America. Since its inception, Rascal Flatts has been composed of three members: Gary LeVox , Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney...
in the film. Their version is not on the soundtrack, but it appears as a bonus track on their album Still Feels Good
Still Feels Good
-Rascal Flatts:*Jay DeMarcus – bass guitar on all tracks, piano on "Better Now", background vocals on all tracks*Gary LeVox – lead vocals*Joe Don Rooney – electric and acoustic guitars, background vocals-Additional musicians:*Bruce Bouton – steel guitar...
. Also not included on the soundtrack are Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
's 2006 hit, "Just Like Noah's Ark" of which only a little bit is heard during the start of building the ark, and John Mayer's
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
"Waiting on the World to Change
Waiting on the World to Change
"Waiting on the World to Change" is the first single released from John Mayer's 2006 studio album, Continuum. The song enjoyed commercial success as a single and won the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 49th Grammy Awards...
", used in the main ark-building montage. "Ready For a Miracle" was released as a single for the soundtrack by American country pop recording artist, LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
.
Rascal Flatts' version of "Revolution" peaked at number 57 on the Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
charts, and "The Power of One" by Bomshel
Bomshel
Bomshel is an American country music duo founded in 2004 by lead singer Buffy "Buf" Lawson and fiddle player Kristy Osmunson. Signed to Curb Records in 2004, Bomshel's original lineup charted four single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and recorded an unreleased album called Bomshel Stomp...
reached number 52 on the same.
- Note: Tracks one, two and fourteen to sixteen are taken from the film while tracks three through thirteen are inspired by the film.
Accolades
In 2008, the soundtrack was nominated for a Dove Award for Special Event Album of the Year at the 39th GMA Dove Awards. The song "Be the Miracle" by Room for TwoRoom for Two
Room for Two is a 1940 British comedy film.The story takes place in Venice, where a womanising Englishman Vic Oliver takes a strong interest to married tourist played by Frances Day. Oliver disguises himself in drag and gets himself hired as the Days' maid. When Day's philandering husband, played...
was also nominated for Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year while "Ready for a Miracle" by LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
won the Dove Award for Traditional Gospel Recorded Song of the Year.