Evan Almighty

It stars Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman reprising their roles as Evan Baxter and God, respectively, with new cast members Lauren Graham and John Goodman.

The film opened on June 22, 2007, and was a box-office bomb, grossing $174.4 million worldwide, and received generally negative reviews from critics.

Newly elected to Congress, former television news reporter Evan Baxter leaves his hometown of Buffalo, New York and moves to the community of Prestige Crest, located in the fictional town of Huntsville, Virginia, where his congressional campaign declares that he will change the world.

On his first day in Congress, Evan introduces himself to his staffers and later given the opportunity to join his greedy boss, Congressman Chuck Long, to co-sponsor his Citizens' Integration of Public Lands Act (CINPLAN) bill.

Evan decides to start building it by using the tools and materials provided, giving him an opportunity to spend more time with his sons, but Joan sees this as a midlife crisis.

When God indefinitely exposes Evan's robe, Long gets him suspended from Congress and has him removed from the Public Land Act bill.

Meanwhile, God disguises himself as a waiter at a restaurant, where he speaks with Joan and tells her that she should see this as an opportunity for the entire family to get closer to each other.

Joan is inspired by God's meaning and decides to return to help Evan finish building the ark together to prepare for the flood.

When the dam actually fails, the entire community manages to board the ark and all the houses of Prestige Crest are destroyed.

The ark then rides the floodwaters to Washington, D.C. until it stops in front of the Capitol, which interrupts the vote for Long's Public Land Act Bill.

God states that Evan had successfully changed his world as he actually prayed for and grown closer to his family through his one Act of Random Kindness (ARK).

[5] Universal Studios immediately made a deal to co-produce the script with Sony Pictures and have Steve Oedekerk rewrite it into the sequel to Bruce Almighty.

"[7] This marked the third time a sequel has been made to a film for which Carrey declined to reprise his role—the others being Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd and Son of the Mask.

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.

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.

Hollywood, another visual effects company, who provided a large number of composites, involving hundreds of greenscreen animal elements.

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.

"[15] 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.

[18] The film and its subsequent home video release was marketed to Christians and their churches through a "kindness campaign" called Ark ALMIGHTY.

[24] 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.

[28] 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.

Two chimpanzees who appear in the film, Cody and Sable, were surrendered by their owner to settle a lawsuit that documented allegations of beatings and mistreatment.

[33]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.

[37] The HD-DVD and DVD's special features include deleted scenes, outtakes, cast interviews, and footage of the animals used in the film.

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 considered blasphemous in Islam.

[9] 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.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Big on special effects but short on laughs, Evan Almighty underutilizes a star-studded cast that includes Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman.

[45] Critic Richard Roeper commended Jim Carrey for declining to reprise his role in "three of the worst sequels of all time", which included Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, 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.

[51] At the Golden Raspberry Awards Evan Almighty was nominated for the Worst Prequel or Sequel, but lost to Daddy Day Camp.

The ark being prepared for filming a scene
The fully constructed ark is at the center of the image with a downcast sky. A large ramp on the left side of the image is leading up into the ark. In the foreground of the image is a paved street.
The Ark used for filming was located in Crozet, Virginia .
Signage on a lamppost in downtown Waynesboro, Virginia, for Evan Almighty filming
Two Asian elephants are at the center of the image, side-by-side. Two men on opposite sides (holding thin, metal poles) are guiding the elephants through orange cones on the dirt ground. In the background is grass and trees and an overcast sky.
Two elephants being trained for filming