Trivia / Bruce Almighty

• Actor-Inspired Element: The movie is set in Buffalo, New York, because Jim Carrey grew up in Toronto, Ontario, just north of Buffalo, and watched WKBW-TV Channel 7’s Eyewitness News as a kid. In those days, Irv Weinstein was the lead anchor of Eyewitness News, and was famous for his staccato delivery and use of alliterative phrases like "Pistol Packing Punks" and "Buffalo Blaze Busters." Irv Weinstein was the first news anchor to use the phrase, "It's 11 o'clock, do you know where your children are?"
• Banned in China: Banned in Egypt and Malaysia for showing God in human form. The ban in Malaysia was eventually lifted.
• Celebrity Voice Actor: In Universal's Latin American Spanish dub, Bruce is voiced by the famous Mexican actor/singer Sergio Zaldívar.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: There are lots of mistakes which people make about this movie, including:
  • People thinking that Bruce only had God's powers for a week. This is never stated, and mid-way through God actually said "You've had my powers for a little over a week now", so this can't be right, as we know Bruce had his powers for several more days at minimum. Even the DVD cover and the TRAILERS make this mistake, as does the title of the Italian dub, "Una Settimana da Dio" (A week as God).
  • People thinking Bruce's powers only worked in Buffalo. This is wrong; Bruce only got PRAYERS from Buffalo, but he could use his powers anywhere. This is especially obvious when Bruce moves the moon.
  • People thinking that Bruce and Grace are married. This one is least forgivable, since it's a major plot point that Grace wants Bruce to propose to her. Anyone who makes this mistake clearly wasn't paying attention when they watched the film.
  • This article also claims it was Morgan Freeman (Well, his character) who made Grace orgasm with his voice. It was actually Bruce, using God's powers.
• Deleted Role: The original script had the character of Bobby, who worked at the news station, selling snacks. He annoyed Bruce, who then proceeded to damn him, causing him to become demoniacally-possessed. Fortunately, Bruce eventually reversed it.
• Deleted Scene:
  • Where Bruce causes Evan's nose to bleed profusely while he's on-air, then sets his hair on fire twice. It was left out because it made Bruce too unsympathetic, looking like something out of a horror movie.
    • Though in a later scene which had Bruce and Evan reconcile, Bruce fixed up his hair.
  • There was an extended scene in the movie where Bruce was seen answering specific prayers. There was one where Bruce motivates a disabled kid to climb some ropes at his school's gym. He also becomes a bully himself, beating up his former tormenter. God reveals to Bruce that the kid was originally gonna grow up to be poet, but now he'll become a wrester, get steroids and manage a muffin shop. Similarly, there was a scene where a bankrupt woman got rich from suing a grocery store when Bruce causes her to slip on milk and a lawyer happens to be near. God reveals to Bruce that she would have swallowed her pride and reconcile with her sister. Now, she's living on a condo in South Florida, forever estranging the two. Other examples of prayers Bruce answers include freeing some prisoners (Who later steal his car) and making a man's penis bigger.
• Development Hell: A third Almighty movie was announced to be in the works in 2012, with both Carrey and Freeman going on to say they'd both consider taking part in it. Nothing about it has come up since, however.
• Hey, It's That Place!: Universal Studio's Courthouse Square is used throughout this movie — it's been in dozens of productions, but it is most famous for Back to the Future.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Morgan Freeman portrays God in this film. In real-life, he is an agnostic.
• Produced By Castmember: Jim Carrey was a producer on the film.
• Technology Marches On: A lot of younger viewers nowadays probably won't recognise that strange device God uses to contact Bruce early in the film. (It's called a pager.)
• Uncredited Role: Judd Apatow worked as an uncredited script doctor for the screenplay.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original script contains a lot more scenes that didn't make it into the final movie. These include: Bruce answering lots of prayers individually (including God showing him the consequences), Grace's breasts growing twice more (and going back to normal after a prayer), Bruce "pleasuring" Susan right before they go on air, a lot more stories covered during the "A Little Less Conversation" montage (such as Bruce discovering Bigfoot, and getting pandas to mate by making them insatiably horny), people confessing their sins to Bruce, and an entire new character called "Bobby", who works at Channel 7, and is damned by Bruce, causing him to become possessed by a demon.
  • Robert De Niro was originally supposed to play God. Jack Nicholson was also offered the role. In both cases it would've been a huge case of Playing Against Type, as both actors are best known for portraying roles that range from anti-heroes to flat-out psychos; most people generally don't think "Travis Bickle" or "Jack Torrance" when they think of God.
  • Eva Mendes was originally cast as Susan Ortega, but had to be replaced due to scheduling conflicts.

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