Many fans of Ghostbusters are likely aware that actors including Eddie Murphy and John Belushi were originally up for roles in the classic horror-comedy, and John Candy is another beloved actor who almost had a part in the film. The character Louis Tully, ultimately played by Rick Moranis, was originally intended for Candy to play. Alas, things just didn’t work out.
“Originally, in the storyboards, we basically drew in John Candy, because that’s who we heard was going to be this character,” visual effects art director John Bruno notes in Netflix’s “The Movies That Made Us.” Story goes that Candy either asked for too much money or wanted to play the character in a way director Ivan Reitman didn’t agree with, so he was off the project.
Some of those original storyboards are shown off in the aforementioned Ghostbusters episode of “The Movies That Made Us,” and the show’s official Twitter account just shared a couple of them this week. Of course, there’s a good chance many of you guys reading this right now have already seen these, but we figured we’d share them out for anyone who maybe hasn’t yet.
What if Louis Tully was played by John Candy rather than Rick Moranis? These early pre-production storyboards give you an idea of what that would’ve looked like….
These are original storyboards from the pre-production of Ghostbusters, where they drew in John Candy as Louis Tully, instead of Rick Moranis, because at the time, Candy was the front runner to be cast in that role. The rest as you can say, is history! pic.twitter.com/bJD99nuAeo
— Toys That Made Us (@toysthatmadeus) April 20, 2020
