A sequel to 2003’s Bruce Almighty and 2007’s Evan Almighty could have seen Jim Carrey return to inherit the malevolent powers of the Devil instead of the righteous might of God. Bruce Almighty screenwriters Steve Koren and Mark O’Keefe pitched this film, called “Brucifer,” to Universal, but it did not get off the ground.

Koren and O’Keefe told SyFy that they brought the idea to Universal in 2010–and it was too late. That’s because 2007’s sequel-type movie Evan Almighty starring Steve Carell was a flop. Carrey and his manager were said to have been interested in making Brucifer, but Universal apparently balked at the idea because it would have been a “giant”–and presumably expensive–production.

“We went in and pitched it, but it never quite worked out, because it was later on … It would have been another giant movie and I don’t think they wanted to do it,” Koren said. “It just didn’t work out for some reason, but a lot of people loved it, including Jim.”

As for the story, Bruce would have taken on the powers of the Devil after his wife, played by Jennifer Aniston in the 2003, dies. Bruce loses his faith due to the loss of his wife, and he becomes evil.

“It came from a serious place, but we were gonna write it in a very friendly way. We certainly didn’t want to depress people. So I think that scared [the studio] a little bit, but to Jim’s credit, he totally understood that we were going to make a big comedy and thought everybody would connect with it.”

Also in the interview, Koren and O’Keefe revealed more details on the original Bruce Almighty, saying they also considered Jim Breuer, Chris Farley, and Will Ferrell for the role of Bruce. As for why the character is named Bruce, O’Keefe said he and Koren were big fans of Bruce Springsteen, and that’s that.

Bruce Almighty is streaming on Peacock. It also stars Morgan Freeman as God and Steve Carell as Bruce’s news anchor competitor, Evan. The movie made close to $500 million against an $80 million budget.