Thursday, January 26, 2012

AS LONG AS THERE IS INJUSTICE, WHENEVER A TARGATHIAN BABY CRIES OUT, WHEREVER A DISTRESS SIGNAL SOUNDS AMONG THE STARS, WE'LL BE THERE: Splitsider points out that Harold Ramis was originally signed to direct Galaxy Quest, and the fascinating part is why he backed out:
Originally titled Captain Starshine when it was first written but then wisely changed to Galaxy Quest, this sci-fi comedy was a directing project that Harold Ramis signed onto in 1998. Ramis reportedly left the movie, though, when Disney insisted on casting Tim Allen in the lead role, and Dean Parisot took over. According to movie site Ain’t it Cool News, Kevin Kline was Ramis’s first choice but Kline turned the part down. Ramis then wanted Alec Baldwin to play the lead role but the studio nixed that idea and selected Tim Allen.
By Grabthar's hammer, Baldwin would have been awesome in the role. Damn.

2 comments:

  1. Jordan7:12 PM

    I really like that movie, to the point where I'd be hesitant about changes, but Baldwin would have been FANTASTIC.

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  2. 1.  Yes, Baldwin had the potential to be awesome, but the decision makes sense from the studio's perspective--at the time, Allen was starring in the top-rated non-NBC-Thursday sitcom on TV.  Baldwin had yet to go through his career reinvention and was playing heavies in films like The Edge and Mercury Rising.  (His comedic rebirth really started in 1999 with Outside Providence and the Notting Hill cameo, with State and Main kicking it further.)  (Kline would likewise have been quite good.)

    2.  Ramis has directed plenty of good stuff, but among his efforts of that era?  Bedazzled, Analyze That, and Multiplicity.  I wonder if he would have nailed the tone as well as Parisot did--it's actually odd Parisot hasn't worked more (his only movie credit post-Galaxy Quest was the Jim Carrey Fun With Dick and Jane)--though he's done a lot of TV, including a couple of episodes of Good Wife and a Modern Family.

    2.

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