Die Hard: The first Die hard movie was actually a sequel to a 1968 move called 'The Detective' based on a book of the same name and starring Frank Sinatra. In 1988, a sequel was planned and Sinatra was contractually offered the role despite being 73. He turned it down, and it was rewritten and offered to Arnold Schwarzenegger but he turned it down. It was then offered to Stallone, Ford and a handful of other actors. It was rewritten again and the role went to Willis who was virtually unknown then and who the producers had little faith in as an actor star. The rest is history. Rambo: The role of John Rambo was originally given to Al Pacino who wanted to make Rambo into more of a war veteran turned madman then hero. He eventually decided against the role and it was given to Stallone. Axel Foley: Stallone was originally offered the role of Axel Foley. He wanted all of the comedy taken out of the script and to have be turned into a pure action movie. That didn't work out and the role went to Eddie Murphy who cashed in. Han Solo: Pacino, Nicholson, Russell, and even Christopher Walken auditioned for the the role before it was given to Harrison Ford Forrest Gump: The role was first offered to John Travolta and Bill Murray. The author of the book its based on wanted john Goodman.
Bruce Willis wasn't a virtual unknown in 88. He was starring in Moonlighting (not to be confused with Peter Scolari starring in LaLaLand). I mean for gods sake, he won an Emmy for Moonlighting. He wasn't a well known serious action movie star, but he was famous.
I think I heard somewhere that James Franco almost got the Anakin role in Star Wars 2. Wish that had happened.
A few off the top of my head: Annette Benning was the original choice for the Catherine Trammel role in Basic Instinct. Don't know why she turned it down. Sylvester Stallone was adamant that Carrie Snodgrass play Adrian in Rocky. She was recently married to Neil Young and had just had a child. So the role went to Talia Shire. OJ Simpson in The Terminator. Arnold was originally supposed to play Reese but was more interested in the title role. Roseanna Arquette was offered the role of Sarah Connor but turned it down. Just about every leading man were offered the part of Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind. Clark Gable originally turned down the role because he though he was too old. After much persuasion he took the part. Michael Sarrazin was almost cast as the male prostitute in Midnight Cowboy. The casting director knew it was a mistake and lobbied hard for Jon Voight.
The Matrix Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Costner, David Duchovny, Brad Pitt, Val Kilmer, Brandon Lee, Lou Diamond Phillips as Neo Sean Connery, Russell Crowe, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman as Morphius Jean Reno as Agent Smith
Ghostmashers (original title) John Belushi as Peter Venkman Eddie Murphy as Winston Zeddemore John Candy as Louis Tully Paul Rubens as Gozer Sandra Bernhard as Janine Melnitz Ghostbusters III (1990s) Chris Rock, Chris Farley, Ben Stiller Ghostbusters III (2010s) Bill Hader, Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Anna Faris, Eliza Dushku, Michael Cera, Seth Rogen, Will Forte, Ashton Kutcher, Steve Carrell
Never understood how Eric Stoltz ever got that role. They must have really been hard up for somebody because Stoltz's comedy persona was always "Hardy Boy-ish" gullable innocence. He wasn't geeky enough to play Marty. Even C. Thomad Howell would have been better. I loved Stoltz in The Wild Life though. That film is hilarious..... "It's casual."
Tom Hanks turned down the role of Jerry McGuire and Mel Gibson turned down Maximus in Gladiator..Ed Norton turned down American Psycho role
Will Smith turned down the role of Django in Django Unchained. Smith wanted to be first billed and regarded Dr. Schultz as the lead.
Pulp Fiction Michael Madsen, Alec Baldwin, Jason Patric, Andy Garcia, Michael Keaton, Denzel Washington, Sean Penn as Vincent John Cusak, Michael Keaton, Christian Slater, Bill Paxton, Johnny Depp, Nicholas Cage as Lance Virginia Madsen, Marisa Tomei, Patricia Arquette, Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda, Angela Bassett, Debra Winger, Robin Wright, Meg Tilly as Mia Lawrence Fishburn, Eddie Murphy, Charles Dutton as Jules Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Danny DeVito, Alec Baldwin, Michael Keaton, Christopher Walken, Charles Dutton as The Wolf Christian Slater, Johnny Depp, Gary Oldman, Nicholas Cage, Eric Stolz, John Cusak as Pumpkin Patricia Arquette, Lili Taylor, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bridget Fonda, Phoebe Cates, Marisa Tomei as Honey Bunny Matt Dillon, Sean Penn, Nicholas Cage, Johnny Depp as Butch
Not exactly an example of movie roles going to other actor, but an interesting fact: Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers.... Never were supposed to be a duo and never really liked each other that much. The film they first acted in together, "Flying Down To Rio" didn't even feature them but the audience loved their chemistry. Astaire prefered dancing with Eleanor Powell but found a more coachable talent in Rogers. While they had amazing chemistry onscreen they never even kissed in their films more than a couple of times. Rogers grew to hate the fact she wasn't more of a serious actress. Astaire disliked the fact he was tied to these series of films. One of Hollywood's most enduring acts was never more than two people punching a time clock. But they gave it there all despite their differences.
Mickey Rourke turned down a bunch of roles...Nic Nolte took the part he turned down in 48 hours. and the role of Axel Foley in Beverly Hills cop....turned down Elliot Ness in the Untouchables...also a good one is Sean Connery turning down the Gandalf role in Lord of the Rings
The lead role in dance dance revolution was offered to Kevin Durant, but he passed on it and Greg Oden became the face of that role. He later went on to roles in China, on the bench and a short porn detour as a tripod.
Sylvester Stallone, Tom Selleck, Nick Nolte, Robert Englund, Bill Murray also considered for Han Solo. Charles Martin Smith, William Katt for Luke Cindy Williams, Terri Nunn, Jodie Foster for Leia Orson Welles for Vader Stan Freberg, Mel Blanc for C3PO Toshiro Mifune for Obi Wan (old) and Vader Leonardo DiCaprio, James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, Jonathan Jackson, Paul Walker, Erick Christian Olsen, Eric von Detten, Ryan Phillipe, Chris Klein, Christian Bale, Colin Hanks for Anakin Michael Jackson as Jar Jar Binks Tupac as Mace Benecio del Toro as Maul
