The Most Expensive Comedy Ever Made?

Things may have just gotten worse for the Hollywood suits who allowed Evan Almighty to be made and released. The executives at Universal Pictures are hoping for a turnaround in the performance of the movie. Looking at the rate that Evan Almighty is burning through their budget, the movie is on track to becoming the most expensive comedy ever to be released, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The sequel to the 2003 hit Bruce Almighty has Steve Carell reprising his small role in Bruce Almighty as Evan Baxter. According to the Los Angeles Times, Evan Almighty has faced many problems that added a lot of extra money on to the price tag for the movie. One problem they encountered was bad weather in Virginia while they were filming in March. This poor weather forced producers to add 11 days to the filming schedule. The three massive arks that the construction teams had to build also didn’t help the price tag of the movie. Another problem was created by the animals that were used throughout the movie. They were often uncooperative and very hard to control causing the need for extra time to get the shots that they wanted for the movie. In cases where they couldn’t get the necessary shot, expensive visual effects were used to fill in the film.

Initially the movie was thought to have an estimated budget of $140 million to $160 million. But after the movie finishes in theatres, the budget could be closer to $175 million. However with marketing and distribution costs, the figure is thought to be closer to $250 million, not the typical budget for a comedy. However the studio continues to stand behind their movie and say that it was worth it to make the movie. But we’ll see if they actually benefit from making the movie.