# Could-have-beens movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 30, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992 "2024-11-30T21:56:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/21 "2024-12-01T03:47:35Z")
Now that effects are up to it, the Johnstown flood would be a good backdrop to a love story. The rich guy from the private lake in the hills falls for a poor girl from town. Then it starts raining. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/22 "2024-12-01T04:00:42Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > …the Johnstown flood… From Slapshot (paraphrased, my computer is drunker than me): “What’s up with that dog?” “Huh?” “What’s up with that dog?” “Oh, he saved a bunch of people from the flood” “Well, Fuck Him!” ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/23 "2024-12-01T04:39:48Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > A real life could-have-been: we could have had a _Matrix_ with Wil Smith as Neo… And Sean Connery turned down the Morpheus role. I’d like to tap into the multiverse and see that version of The _Matrix_. I have a hard time picturing it although I can’t imagine it would have been any good. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/24 "2024-12-01T04:46:01Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > And Sean Connery turned down the Morpheus role. For that matter, Connery also turned down the role of Gandalf in the _Lord of the Rings_ films, stating that, despite reading the books and the script, he didn’t understand it. As you note with The Matrix, I have a hard time picturing Connery as being able to come anywhere close to Sir Ian McKellen in the role; it would probably have been Connery being Connery. > [@](#): > > Peter Jackson, for a period of time, had envisioned [Sean Connery](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/tags/sean-connery/) as Gandalf, the wise and powerful wizard central to the epic trilogy. So much so that the offer on the table was an impressive sum of $30million, coupled with a staggering 15% of the box-office earnings. A deal like this would have seen Connery journey to the scenic locales of New Zealand to step into the role that would later become synonymous with actor Ian McKellen. > > Despite this lucrative proposition, Connery remained unmoved. The Scottish actor’s reason for turning down the role was quite straightforward: he didn’t understand the series. “I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don’t understand it,” Connery disclosed in an interview years later, as reported by _the New Zealand Herald_. But even in his rejection, he showed graciousness, praising McKellen’s portrayal of Gandalf as “marvellous”. > **[Sean Connery once turned down 'The Lord of the Rings' role](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/sean-connery-once-turned-down-the-role-of-gandalf-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/)** > > Had the late Sean Connery agreed to be in it, the world of 'The Lord of the Rings' would be drastically different to the one we all know and love today. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/25 "2024-12-01T05:31:21Z")
Sean Connery was also supposed to play Spock’s brother Sybok in _Star Trek V: The Final Frontier_ and the name of Vulcan heaven “Sha Ka Ree” used in the movie was a joke on Connery’s name. The movie was a mess so it was probably best that Connery passed on it. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/26 "2024-12-01T06:03:31Z")
The name’s Dalf…Gandalf. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/27 "2024-12-01T06:34:55Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Peter Jackson, for a period of time, had envisioned [Sean Connery](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/tags/sean-connery/) as Gandalf “Balrog! Getting past me is going to be rough! … Just the way your mother likes it.” ---
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/28 "2024-12-01T07:36:06Z")
How about Clint Eastwood as the child in Kramer vs Kramer? Too obvious i guess. So this then: John Candy as Batman? Cool refreshing thought! ---
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/29 "2024-12-01T08:02:53Z")
Good idea! He is mostly good at whatever he does. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/30 "2024-12-01T09:15:36Z")
I would have liked to see late-period Groucho Marx try his hand at drama. I think he could have pulled it off. Cast him as one of the jurors in _12 Angry Men_ and see where his career goes from there. ---
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/31 "2024-12-01T09:41:43Z")
Wow thats as crazy as imagining Charlie Chaplin as Hitler, not woulda happened! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/32 "2024-12-01T09:47:53Z")
Yeah, but it was a comedy Hitler. I think Groucho could have pulled a Robin Williams and turned into a respected dramatic actor, while still doing the occasional comedy. He had in him. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/33 "2024-12-01T09:49:30Z")
David Bowie as the Riddler. ---
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/34 "2024-12-01T09:52:55Z")
Oprah Winfrey as Robin Hood, just saying. Who could play Tarzan? Any constructive ideas? Young schwartsenegger? Nah, Conan was him. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/35 "2024-12-01T12:55:45Z")
Who would play Tarzan? John Candy, of course. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/36 "2024-12-01T13:09:29Z")
> [@Loggins](#): > > actress that would be cast as something completely different successfully. Not Helen Mirren as Frankenstein, no I’m guessing this isn’t what you intended, but — while I’d never considered it before — I think Helen Mirren could’ve done a great job of playing it _completely straight_ as Doctor Frankenstein. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/37 "2024-12-01T13:18:43Z")
Dylan Baker would also make a good Dagwood. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/38 "2024-12-01T13:29:47Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > A live action Count Chocula, with guest star Bakula as Dracula. A confused Bakula did appear on ‘what we do in the shadows’ as the vampires thought he was one of them. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/39 "2024-12-01T14:25:02Z")
Charlton Heston as the President in **Escape from New York**. Really, wouldn’t he be perfect in the platinum blond wig getting shot at by The Duke - oh, the irony. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992/40 "2024-12-01T15:06:51Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Charlton Heston as the President in **Escape from New York**. Sean Connery as **The Man With The Golden Gun.** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-have-beens-movies/1010992.md?page=3)