The Studio Wanted Bill Murray or Chevy Chase
Airplane! writers-directors David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams — aka ZAZ — always wanted their actors to play it straight — and to cast stars known for drama. But Paramount Pictures, understandably, thought that since the 1980 release was a comedy, it should feature some of the biggest comedy stars of the day.
“The requests kept coming in from the studio that we have this or that actor in to read,” David Zucker said in ZAZ’s excellent 2023 book Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane. “Comedians like Bill Murray and Chevy Chase.”
Chase and Murray, of course, ended up in another huge 1980 comedy, Caddyshack (above).
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