Evan Almighty

Evan Almighty
Evan Almighty theatrical poster
Directed by	Tom Shadyac
Written by	Steve Oedekerk
Story by	Steve Oedekerk
Produced by	Gary Barber Roger Birnbaum Michael Bostick Neal H. Moritz Tom Shadyac
Starring	Steve Carell Morgan Freeman Lauren Graham John Goodman Wanda Sykes Molly Shannon
Cinematography	Ian Baker
Edited by	Scott Hill
Music by	John Debney
Distributed by	Universal Studios
Release dates	June 22, 2007
Running time	90 minutes
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
Budget	$175 million

Evan Almighty is a 2007 comedy film, and sequel to the 2003 film Bruce Almighty. It was directed by Tom Shadyac and stars Steve Carell, and Lauren Graham, with Morgan Freeman reprising his role as God. Evan Almighty was released in theaters on June 22, 2007. Only 9% of major media critics gave the film a positive review (23% positive including freelance websites and non-affiliated reviewers). However, audience response was slightly more positive, with a 6.2 rating on IMDb.

Plot

File:Evanark.jpg

Evan and God sitting in the half-built Ark

Newly elected to Congress, Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) leaves Buffalo behind and shepherds his family to suburban northern Virginia. His campaign was that he would change the world, never saying how. Once there, his life gets turned upside-down when God (Morgan Freeman) appears and mysteriously commands him to build an ark because a flood is coming. But his befuddled family just can't decide whether Evan is having an extraordinary mid-life crisis or is truly onto something of Biblical proportions. God tells Evan the flood will come September 22nd mid-day. Animals start following Evan to Congress causing him to eventually be suspended from work after he tells everyone that God told him to build an ark. His wife Joan and his three sons leave to her mother's house after seeing it on a news report, leaving him to build the ark himself. Evan's ark building gets international notice. Weeks after Joan leaves Evan, God appeared to her as a waiter at a diner. He tells her that God doesn't give things, he gives the opportunity to get things. For example, God doesn't give a family togetherness, he gives the opportunity for families to be together. Seeing his meaning, Joan returns to Evan to finish the ark together. Evan's old colleagues tell him that Congressman Long (who got Evan suspended) built a dam over a nearby lake and cut corners everywhere. September 22nd comes with clear skies, and Evan loads the hundreds of animals onto the newly finished ark in front of live news crews. Minutes pass with still clear skies, so spectators start leaving. Dark clouds appear and rain starts pouring down. Evan tells everyone to board the ark but no one listens. The rain suddenly stops and everyone starts laughing at Evan. Evan thinks it's over until the poorly built dam bursts. Panic overtakes everyone and they board the ark. The ark sails down the streets of Washington D.C. by the burst lake until it eventually lands at the Capitol. Evan tells Long of his poorly made dam, causing the other Congressmen present to turn on him. Evan and his family go on a hiking trip over the weekend and God tells Evan that the way to change the world is by doing Acts of Random Kindness ("ARK") one at a time. Near the end credits, God writes the eleventh comendment:Thou shalt do the dance.

Cast

Jim Carrey and Jennifer Aniston both declined to reprise their roles from Bruce Almighty. Though he did do a sequel to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Carrey has said he is "not a big fan of doing the same character twice." This marks the third time (following Son of the Mask and Dumb and Dumberer) that a sequel has been made to a Jim Carrey film where he declined to reprise his role.

Actor	Role
Steve Carell	Evan Baxter
Morgan Freeman	God
Lauren Graham	Joan Baxter
John Goodman	Congressman Long
Wanda Sykes	Rita
John Michael Higgins	Marty
Jonah Hill	Eugene Tenanbaum
Jimmy Bennett	Ryan Baxter
Graham Phillips	Jordan Baxter
Johnny Simmons	Dylan Baxter
Rachael Harris	Markie Parkington-reporter #2
Molly Shannon	real estate agent Eve Adams
Ed Helms	Ed Carson
Maile Flanagan	Mail-lady
Jon Stewart	Himself

Trivia

• Several references are made to The Beatles, primarily based on his long hair and beard:
  • Evan's son jokingly calls him John Lennon.
  • Rita refers to him as the fifth Beatle.

Even the song Revolution 1 is used, though not performed by The Beatles.

• During the scene where God takes Evan up to a mountain top overlooking a wooded valley, a 2 measure quote from Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring" is quoted as a reference to the Appalachian region is which the movie is set.

Rating

This film is rated PG by the MPAA for mild rude humor and some peril.

Production

The ark for Evan Almighty in Crozet, Virginia.

The film's screenplay was originally titled The Passion of the Ark, and was written by Bobby Florsheim 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 Pictures immediately made a deal to co-produce the script with Sony and have Steve Oedekerk, who was an executive producer and co-wrote the screenplay with Steve Koren & Mark O'Keefe (who both wrote the story) for the first movie, rewrite it into the sequel to Bruce Almighty. The studio discarded the original "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).

At an initial budget of approximately $140 million, Evan Almighty is slated to be the most expensive comedy movie ever made. Added costs such as set construction, visual effects, and problems with filming multiple animals in a controlled location could bring the budget up to $160-175 million. Once marketing for the film is also included, the film's entire budget is estimated to be $250 million. The ballooning budget caused Sony to drop the project and hand it over entirely to Universal Pictures. Steve Carell will earn a reported $5 million for his role in the film.

Scenes for the film were filmed in various locations in Virginia, including areas in and around Crozet, Waynesboro, Richmond, and Staunton, though some filming did take place at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California. The scenes involving the ark were shot in a Crozet subdivision, Old Trail. The ark was designed to meet the actual measurements of the biblical ark, measuring 450 feet long, 80 feet wide and 51 feet high. While on the set for the film, Steve Carell hurt his ankle on May 13, 2006, while stepping out of a Hummer in downtown Richmond.

Director Tom Shadyac felt the film reflected environmental themes of how humans are stewards of God's creation. In keeping with the themes, Shadyac had the crew plant trees to offset the production's carbon emissions, and 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. In addition, 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.

Animal welfare concerns

The American Humane Association oversaw the one hundred 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.

Box office

Though Evan Almighty was very hyped and had a budget double of Bruce Almighty's, it performed under expectations. On its opening weekend, it took in about $31 million, less than half of Bruce Almighty's $68 million weekend ($85 million counting Memorial Day). With a budget of $175 million, Evan Almighty will most likely not make up its cost unless it can hold over through the summer and have strong DVD sales.

External links

• Evan Almighty official website
• Evan Almighty at Filmspot
• Evan Almighty at IMDb
• Evan Almighty at Rotten Tomatoes
• ShadyacWatch Digest of Evan Almighty news
• "Film Noah-r" - article on the location filming by local paper
• Evan Almighty Trailer and Pictures
• Behind-the-scenes of Evan Almighty (mild spoilers)