The Running Man with Andrew Davis

Here is Subzero... now, plain zero.

The Running man was originally a novel written by Richard Bachman (a pseudonym for Stephen King) in a single week. Predating reality television, the story takes place in a dystopian society in which contestants can make money on a game show by evading captors. In the book, the lead character Ben Richards is described as "scrawny" and "pre-tubercular." In the movie version, he's played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie began with director Andrew Davis who's best known for directing The Fugitive with Harrison Ford, although my personal favorite film of his is Above the Law with Steven Seagal. Either way, Davis was fired a week into filming due to falling behind in the schedule and was replaced with Paul Michael Glaser. Glaser best well known as TV's David Starsky on the show "Starsky and Hutch," had transitioned in directing. He had directed the underrated film The Band of The Hand. Reportedly, Schwarzenegger felt it was a mistake to replace Davis as he thought Glaser's version was too similar to a TV movie and lost many of the deeper themes.

Above the Law 2 is in pre-production. I hope Kurt Zagon returns. 

The Thing with a whole bunch of people

The Thing (the 1982 version) directed by John Carpenter and adapted by Bill Lancaster, son of Burt Lancaster, from the novella Who Goes There by John W. Campbell Jr seems incredibly relevant at this time. One of the all-time classic horror/science fiction films, unfortunately, it was overshadowed by E.T. when it was released. However, it is a classic. Multiple actors were considered for various parts including the following:

MacReady: Christopher Walken, Jeff Bridges, Nick Nolte, Sam Shepard, Tom Atkins, and Jack Thompson, Brian Dennehy, Kris Kristofferson, John Heard, Ed Harris, Tom Berenger, Scott Glenn, Fred Ward, Peter Coyote, and Tim McIntire. Eventually, the role was played by Kurt Russell who knocks it out of the park.

Childs: Geoffrey Holder, Carl Weathers, Bernie Casey, and Ernie Hudson. They went with Keith David, and it was his first film role. Until then, he'd only ever done theater and needed to adjust his technique for the camera.

Palmer: Jay Leno, Gary Shandling, and Richard Fleisher were considered before they went with David Clennon.

Garry: Powers Boothe, Lee Van Cleef, Jerry Orbach, Richard Mulligan, and Kevin Conway before they went with Donald Moffat.

The Thing works on so many levels and truly belongs in the pantheon of great movies. If you haven't seen it, you should. Although, it might be unsettling to watch. I can't imagine the film being better with a different cast, as each person brought something to the role. However, had Nolte been cast as MacReady, perhaps the producers of another film released in 1982 would have gone with the original casting ideas

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Candyman and Who Framed Roger Rabbit with Eddie Murphy

Like Pablo Picasso or the band Black Flag, we're switching things up and going in a different direction. Today, we're going to look at two films which would have been different had Eddie Murphy starred in both pictures:

Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out in 1988. A combination of live-action and animation, based partially on the book Who Censored Roger Rabbit, the film was made before digital technology was abundant, so production took a long time. Reportedly, Harrison Ford was the first choice for Eddie Valiant, and others considered for the part were Chevy Chase, Robin Williams, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Ed Harris, Sylvester Stallone, Wallace Shawn, and Charles Grodin. Eddie Murphy passed, and later reportedly regretted doing so. This would not be the last time people passed on a Robert Zemekis movie. Reportedly both Dave Chappelle and David Alan Grier passed on the role of Bubba in Forrest Gump.  However, with regard to Roger Rabbit, in my opinion, the role of Eddie Valiant needed to be portrayed by someone like Bob Hoskins. Also, Eddie Muphy made Coming to America instead which is also a classic. Candyman, the original film which was made in 1992, was set in London and based on the short story by Clive Barker entitled "The Forbidden." The location was changed to Chicago and Eddie Murphy had been considered for the role of the villainous Candy Man, however, he would have been too expensive. Instead, Tony Todd played the part. I think Todd was better suited for the role since he was more physically suited for the role at 6'5". Not to mention, while Eddie Murphy is certainly very capable of playing dramatic roles, it's unclear whether he could successfully make the transition to horror. However, had he gone the horror route, perhaps he would have found a new genre.

Deliverance by Sam Peckinpah starring Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson, and Charlton Heston

Deliverance was released in 1972. A classic film, adapted from one of the few novels written by poet James Dickey, the film covers a weekend trip of four friends which goes drastically wrong. Originally, director Sam Peckinpah was interested in making the film, but the studio went with John Boorman who had a lot of cache due to the success of the films Point Blank and Hell in the Pacific. Peckinpah would go on to direct Straw Dogs, an equally uncompromising and violent film that dealt with horrific themes. Boorman sought to have Lee Marvin and Marlon Brando in the picture before the suggestion was put forth to use younger actors. Among those considered for various roles included: Donald Sutherland, Henry Fonda, Warren Beatty, George C. Scott, and Robert Redford. It's difficult to imagine the movie with a cast other than the actors who would go on to star in the film. While The French Connection was released the year before, let's say Gene Hackman had gone continued to go a different route with his career. So, perhaps we would have had this version:

Jaws with Robert Duvall, Jon Voight, and Lee Marvin

"Gaming fish, eh? Marlin... stingray... you don't go about telling me my business again."

Jaws revolutionized the film industry and became the first Summer blockbuster. While it's considered a landmark/classic film, it began as anything but. The story of the making of the film is legendary, and the fact that it was made at all is a testament to how sometimes you can catch lightning in a bottle. One year, when I was teaching a senior English high school class, I had the students read the book and watch the film. We compared and contrasted the two, and in one of the few occasions, the film was much better than the book. Either way, originally The role of Brody was offered to Robert Duvall, but he was more interested in portraying Quint. Lee Marvin passed on the role of Quint partially because he was an avid fisherman and didn't want the role to affect his standing within that community. Voight was one of a few actors considered for the role of Hooper along with Jeff Bridges, who apparently was considered for almost every role during this time. All three ended up making different films, and it's difficult to imagine the movie being any better without its original cast. However, had Lee Marvin done Jaws, perhaps he doesn't end his career teaming up with Chuck Norris, and instead, we get 

Animal House with Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, and Chevy Chase

Written and produced by The National Lampoon, Animal House became a genre-defining comedy. At the time, the National Lampoon had also hosted a radio hour with an ensemble that featured Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Harold Ramis, among others. Originally, producer Ivan Reitman wanted Chevy Chase to play Otter, and Bill Murray to play Boon. The part of D-Day was written specifically for Dan Ackroyd and incorporated his affinity for motorcycles. In the end, only Belushi would do the film, shooting in Oregon where filming took place during the week and flying back to New York on weekends to do Saturday Night Live. Chevy Chase would make the film Foul Play instead. Although, later he would portray Ty Webb in Caddyshack; though not officially a National Lampoon film, it featured many of the former staff. Both Ackroyd and Murray would find success on Saturday Night Live. All three have had successful careers. While I could see them doing a great job in Animal House, it's difficult to imagine anyone other than Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, and Bruce McGill playing those roles. I'm not sure there's an alternate 1985 version where the trajectories of anyone's career path is affected too much. Although, things could have gone this way:

The NeverEnding Story with Johnny Depp

Again, we're changing things up a little, but like Aldous Huxley once wrote it's a brave new world. Reviewing The NeverEnding Story had been suggested as a possible topic, and while, during my team's research (translation: when I surfed the web) for this information, I learned there hadn't been an alternative other than Noah Hathaway to play the role of Atreyu, I figured in 1984, the only other person who would have made sense to consider would have been Johnny Depp. Therefore, even though there are no indications this was ever a possibility, I'm going to wast-- spend the requisite time exploring what might have happened should director Wolfgang Peterson go a different route. Even though Johnny Depp had already been in the films A Nightmare on Elm Street and Platoon, it was his role in the television show 21 Jump Street which made him an icon. That show wouldn't air until 1987, so in 1984, he would have still been relatively unknown (with A Nightmare on Elm Street to be released the same year.) According to an earlier post, let's say Wes Craven decided to go with Nicolas Cage instead for the part of Glen. That would have freed Depp up to play Atreyu. Would The NeverEnding Story have been much different? Would Depp's career trajectory have changed? It's impossible to know the answer to these questions, but I'm guessing Atreyu would still get the better of The Gmork. We also might have gotten this instead: