Considered one of the most famous and mysterious urban legends in Hollywood history, “Atuk” is the name of a comedy film project that was never made because, over the course of nearly two decades, virtually all of the leading actors who expressed interest in starring in the film died tragically and prematurely.
Project origins.
Adapted for United Artists by writer Tod Carroll in the late 1970s, and based on the 1963 Canadian novel "The Incomparable Atuk" by Mordecai Richler, the story follows an Inuit (Eskimo) man who travels from Alaska to try to adapt to the noisy, modern civilization of New York City (Canada in the novel).
Due to the physical characteristics described in the novel, the lead role called for a very specific profile: a man of large build, with a cynical attitude, somewhat clumsy but overwhelming. It was the perfect role for the great physical comedians of the era. However, the bad luck that plagued its candidates turned the script into a “cursed script” that the industry has preferred to keep tucked away in a drawer for years.
The curse.
John Belushi (1982).
He was the first choice for the role. The character seemed tailor-made for him, and Belushi was extremely enthusiastic after reading the script. Before the project could move forward, he died at age 33 from a fatal overdose of cocaine and heroin.
Sam Kinison (1987 - 1992).
Five years after Belushi's death, comedian Sam Kinison accepted the role. He was the only one who actually filmed scenes for the movie, but he walked off the set after a week of shooting, demanding that the script be rewritten, which led to the cancellation of the production. In 1992, while attempting to undergo rehabilitation, Kinison died tragically when he collided head-on with a pickup truck driven by a drunk teenager.
John Candy (1994).
A box-office draw from his very first few minutes on screen in "Home Alone" and the star of many comedies that arrived in Argentina on VHS at that time, John Candy was the actor chosen by producers looking to relaunch the project. Unfortunately, Candy died of a massive heart attack exactly one day before the 12th anniversary of Belushi’s death. An urban legend claims that the script for "Atuk" was found open next to him, as if he had been reading it just before the attack.
Michael O'Donoghue (1994).
A close friend of Belushi and Kinison, he was the writer who initially passed the script on to them after making some changes to it. That same year, after suffering from severe migraines for a long time, he died of a brain hemorrhage.
Chris Farley (1997).
Star of hits such as “Tommy Boy” and “Beverly Hills Ninja,” Chris Farley was an absolute fan of Belushi and was about to sign a contract to star in “Atuk” and carry on his idol's legacy. Days before his casting was made official, he died of a drug overdose under circumstances that were sadly identical to Belushi's.
Phil Hartman (1998).
A friend and former colleague of Farley's, Hartman was considering taking a supporting role in the film and helping to rewrite the script. Months later, he was shot and killed in his sleep by his wife, Brynn, in a tragic murder-suicide.
Strange coincidences.
Despite numerous attempts to get the project off the ground and its fateful coincidences, in 1999, Tod Carroll told the LA Times that that’s all it is, coincidences:
"I'm not a superstitious person, and it doesn't have any meaning to me. Either coincidence or practical explanation. With the right actor and right tone, it may have been a nice movie."
The reality is that the profile sought for the lead role limited the list of candidates to a very specific group of actors who, tragically, shared similar lifestyles. Several of them suffered from severe obesity and untreated heart problems and were struggling with serious addictions to drugs and alcohol. They were brilliant talents, but their personal lives were highly self-destructive or vulnerable, which medically explains their premature deaths.
In turn, it is known that the project attracted the interest of other actors who lived long after the film’s production ended, such as Will Ferrell, Jack Black, John Goodman, and Josh Mostel, as well as Jonathan Winters, who lived to be 87 and died in April 2013.
As of today, due to the lack of a physically imposing comedian with extreme popularity, the type of comedian typical of the 1980s and 1990s whose style no longer fits current Hollywood standards and the well-known history behind the alleged curse, the “Atuk” film project is dead in the water, with no real chance of making it to the big screen.
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