Atuk
Encyclopedia
Atuk is the name of an as-yet-unfilmed American
film
screenplay
, intended to be a film adaptation
based upon the 1963
novel
The Incomparable Atuk
by acclaimed Canadian author Mordecai Richler
. It is essentially a fish out of water comedy
of a proud, mighty Inuit
hunter trying to adapt to life in the big city with satirical
elements on racism
, materialism
and popular culture
. Peter Gzowski
's afterword adds some historical context, and elaborates on the satirized real-life counterparts of several of the novel's minor characters, including Pierre Berton
.
The script for the proposed film adaptation has been in existence since at least the very early 1980s, and although numerous Hollywood film studios have shown an interest in producing the film over the years, the movie remains unfilmed and the entire project in development hell
. The film script is also renowned for an alleged paranormal
curse
which, as an urban legend
, has said to have killed all the actors who have shown an interest in the lead role. These include John Belushi
, Sam Kinison
, John Candy
, and Chris Farley
, and even others who were planning to be in the film or associates of the late leads who had read the script in their presence, such as Michael O'Donoghue
and Phil Hartman
.
who gets transplanted to Toronto
; however in the proposed film screenplay Atuk is a native of Alaska
who ends up in New York City
. In the film adaptation, Atuk was to be the son of an Inuit woman and a missionary
who dreams of seeing the world outside of the Inuit territory of Alaska. He sees his chance when a beautiful documentarian named Michelle Ross and her crew, arrive to film the village he lives in. Atuk stows away in Michelle's plane when her crew takes off from another village, after the crew lands in Canada. Michelle has no choice but to take Atuk with her past the border and into America.
The two end up at Michelle's destination, New York City. Meanwhile, powerful real estate mogul Alexander McKuen is planning to erect a massive metropolis on top of Alaska's wilderness called The Emerald. McKuen is clashing with environmentalists over the project, because they claim the city will poison the ecosystem there. McKuen is also having problems with his sixteen-year-old son Bishop, an underage drinker and smoker who is a terror at his school. Bishop goes joyriding in his boat while he is supposed to be punished, and crashes near the pier where Atuk is and begins to drown. Atuk jumps in and saves Bishop. Bishop befriends Atuk, and takes him out for a night on the town. Alexander decides to have Atuk stay at their mansion until they can put him up in one of their hotels, something McKuen's wife Vera objects to. McKuen reveals to Atuk that Michelle works for him, and tells Atuk he wants him to be a part of an image campaign for McKuen's project, Atuk accepts. Bishop is sent off to military school, and is angry at Atuk for having sold out to his father.
Michelle and Atuk travel back to Alaska to shoot the commercials for McKuen's Emerald project, in an attempt to reassure the environmentalists who are critical of the project. Atuk is put into dark makeup and is put through primitive Inuit paces, which makes him feel unnatural. But as they work together, Atuk and Michelle realize that they like each other very much. At a viewing of the commercial, Atuk realizes that by editing, McKuen has used him to sell his message. Atuk now knowing that he's been taken advantage of, breaks Bishop out of the military academy and using a dog sled, hurries to a hearing about plans for The Emerald and convinces everyone there that he was wrong to endorse McKuen's plans because the project will be bad for the land. With all of the investors for the project pulled out, McKuen and Bishop reconcile. Atuk returns to his village, but the next day Michelle arrives in a plane asking him to go to Hawaii with her. Atuk accepts and the two fly off in the plane—with Bishop in the co-pilot's seat!
d and, according to legend, responsible for the deaths of several major comedic actors in the 1980s and 1990s. The "Atuk Curse" has become one of the better known urban legend
s of Hollywood. Its first victim, supposedly, was John Belushi
, who had read the script and was reportedly enthusiastic about taking on the role of Atuk. Shortly afterwards, he was found dead of a drug overdose in 1982.
After Belushi's death the part was offered to comedian Sam Kinison
, who accepted it in 1988. Kinison filmed at least one scene for the film before he grew dissatisfied with the script and demanded parts of it be re-written, halting production. His leaving the film led the production company to file a lawsuit against him which was a large part in of making him destitute when it finally settled. Not long afterward, while talks were underway to continue the project, Kinison died in a car crash in 1992.
The curse supposedly struck again in 1994 when John Candy
, who had been approached for the role of Atuk, was reading the script when he suddenly died of a heart attack
, on March 4 (the day before the 12th anniversary of Belushi's death). It was around this point in the production's history that the press began to speak of a curse. Some believe the curse struck twice that year, since in November Michael O'Donoghue
died of a cerebral hemorrhage. O'Donoghue was a writer and comedian who was also a friend of Belushi and Kinison and, the story goes, had read the script (in some versions even worked on it) before recommending it to them.
The most recent victim of the "Atuk Curse" is said to be Chris Farley
, who idolized John Belushi. Like his idol, he was up for the role of Atuk, and was about to accept when, also like his idol, he died of a drug overdose in December 1997 at the age of 33 (the same age as Belushi). According to some versions the curse would strike once more, only six months later in May 1998 when Farley's friend and former Saturday Night Live
cast-mate, Phil Hartman
, was murdered by his wife. Farley is said to have shown the Atuk script to Hartman, before his death, and was encouraging him to take a co-starring role.
The "Atuk Curse" resembles another alleged curse on a film project: the long-attempted film adaptation of the 1980 novel A Confederacy of Dunces
. Many of the same actors who were considered for the role of Atuk before their deaths - Belushi, Candy and Farley - were also considered for the lead role in A Confederacy of Dunces.
The movie was referenced in the commentary track for 2004's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
, in which Adam McKay
repeatedly pitches a screenplay called "Eskimo in New York" to Will Ferrell
. Ferrell remarks several times that he doesn't think it will make a good movie, and refuses to be a part of it.
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, intended to be a film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
based upon the 1963
1963 in literature
The year 1963 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*First United States printing of John Cleland's 1749 novel, Fanny Hill . The book is banned for obscenity, triggering a court case by its publisher.*Leslie Charteris publishes his final collection of stories...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Incomparable Atuk
The Incomparable Atuk
The Incomparable Atuk is a satirical novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It was first published in 1963 by McClelland and Stewart. The novel was published as Stick Your Neck Out in the United States....
by acclaimed Canadian author Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler, CC was a Canadian Jewish author, screenwriter and essayist. A leading critic called him "the great shining star of his Canadian literary generation" and a pivotal figure in the country's history. His best known works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Barney's Version,...
. It is essentially a fish out of water comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
of a proud, mighty Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
hunter trying to adapt to life in the big city with satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
elements on racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
and popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. Peter Gzowski
Peter Gzowski
Peter Gzowski, was a Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter, most famous for his work on the CBC radio show Morningside. His first biographer argued that Gzowski's contribution to Canadian media must be considered in the context of efforts by a generation of Canadian nationalists to understand...
's afterword adds some historical context, and elaborates on the satirized real-life counterparts of several of the novel's minor characters, including Pierre Berton
Pierre Berton
Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, was a noted Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a well-known television personality and journalist....
.
The script for the proposed film adaptation has been in existence since at least the very early 1980s, and although numerous Hollywood film studios have shown an interest in producing the film over the years, the movie remains unfilmed and the entire project in development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
. The film script is also renowned for an alleged paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
which, as an urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
, has said to have killed all the actors who have shown an interest in the lead role. These include John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
, Sam Kinison
Sam Kinison
Samuel Burl "Sam" Kinison was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Kinison was known for his intense, harsh and politically incorrect genre humor...
, John Candy
John Candy
John Franklin Candy was a Canadian actor and comedian. He rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of The Second City and its related Second City Television series, and through his appearances in comedy films such as Stripes, Splash, Cool Runnings, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, and Uncle...
, and Chris Farley
Chris Farley
Christopher Crosby "Chris" Farley was an American comedian and actor. Farley was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1995....
, and even others who were planning to be in the film or associates of the late leads who had read the script in their presence, such as Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York...
and Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
.
Plot
In the novel, Atuk is a Canadian Inuit poet from Baffin IslandBaffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
who gets transplanted to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
; however in the proposed film screenplay Atuk is a native of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
who ends up in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In the film adaptation, Atuk was to be the son of an Inuit woman and a missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
who dreams of seeing the world outside of the Inuit territory of Alaska. He sees his chance when a beautiful documentarian named Michelle Ross and her crew, arrive to film the village he lives in. Atuk stows away in Michelle's plane when her crew takes off from another village, after the crew lands in Canada. Michelle has no choice but to take Atuk with her past the border and into America.
The two end up at Michelle's destination, New York City. Meanwhile, powerful real estate mogul Alexander McKuen is planning to erect a massive metropolis on top of Alaska's wilderness called The Emerald. McKuen is clashing with environmentalists over the project, because they claim the city will poison the ecosystem there. McKuen is also having problems with his sixteen-year-old son Bishop, an underage drinker and smoker who is a terror at his school. Bishop goes joyriding in his boat while he is supposed to be punished, and crashes near the pier where Atuk is and begins to drown. Atuk jumps in and saves Bishop. Bishop befriends Atuk, and takes him out for a night on the town. Alexander decides to have Atuk stay at their mansion until they can put him up in one of their hotels, something McKuen's wife Vera objects to. McKuen reveals to Atuk that Michelle works for him, and tells Atuk he wants him to be a part of an image campaign for McKuen's project, Atuk accepts. Bishop is sent off to military school, and is angry at Atuk for having sold out to his father.
Michelle and Atuk travel back to Alaska to shoot the commercials for McKuen's Emerald project, in an attempt to reassure the environmentalists who are critical of the project. Atuk is put into dark makeup and is put through primitive Inuit paces, which makes him feel unnatural. But as they work together, Atuk and Michelle realize that they like each other very much. At a viewing of the commercial, Atuk realizes that by editing, McKuen has used him to sell his message. Atuk now knowing that he's been taken advantage of, breaks Bishop out of the military academy and using a dog sled, hurries to a hearing about plans for The Emerald and convinces everyone there that he was wrong to endorse McKuen's plans because the project will be bad for the land. With all of the investors for the project pulled out, McKuen and Bishop reconcile. Atuk returns to his village, but the next day Michelle arrives in a plane asking him to go to Hawaii with her. Atuk accepts and the two fly off in the plane—with Bishop in the co-pilot's seat!
Alleged curse
Atuk is most famous for supposedly being curseCurse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
d and, according to legend, responsible for the deaths of several major comedic actors in the 1980s and 1990s. The "Atuk Curse" has become one of the better known urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
s of Hollywood. Its first victim, supposedly, was John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
, who had read the script and was reportedly enthusiastic about taking on the role of Atuk. Shortly afterwards, he was found dead of a drug overdose in 1982.
After Belushi's death the part was offered to comedian Sam Kinison
Sam Kinison
Samuel Burl "Sam" Kinison was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Kinison was known for his intense, harsh and politically incorrect genre humor...
, who accepted it in 1988. Kinison filmed at least one scene for the film before he grew dissatisfied with the script and demanded parts of it be re-written, halting production. His leaving the film led the production company to file a lawsuit against him which was a large part in of making him destitute when it finally settled. Not long afterward, while talks were underway to continue the project, Kinison died in a car crash in 1992.
The curse supposedly struck again in 1994 when John Candy
John Candy
John Franklin Candy was a Canadian actor and comedian. He rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of The Second City and its related Second City Television series, and through his appearances in comedy films such as Stripes, Splash, Cool Runnings, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, and Uncle...
, who had been approached for the role of Atuk, was reading the script when he suddenly died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, on March 4 (the day before the 12th anniversary of Belushi's death). It was around this point in the production's history that the press began to speak of a curse. Some believe the curse struck twice that year, since in November Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York...
died of a cerebral hemorrhage. O'Donoghue was a writer and comedian who was also a friend of Belushi and Kinison and, the story goes, had read the script (in some versions even worked on it) before recommending it to them.
The most recent victim of the "Atuk Curse" is said to be Chris Farley
Chris Farley
Christopher Crosby "Chris" Farley was an American comedian and actor. Farley was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1995....
, who idolized John Belushi. Like his idol, he was up for the role of Atuk, and was about to accept when, also like his idol, he died of a drug overdose in December 1997 at the age of 33 (the same age as Belushi). According to some versions the curse would strike once more, only six months later in May 1998 when Farley's friend and former Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
cast-mate, Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
, was murdered by his wife. Farley is said to have shown the Atuk script to Hartman, before his death, and was encouraging him to take a co-starring role.
The "Atuk Curse" resembles another alleged curse on a film project: the long-attempted film adaptation of the 1980 novel A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel written by John Kennedy Toole, published by LSU Press in 1980, 11 years after the author's suicide. The book was published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy and Toole's mother Thelma Toole, quickly becoming a cult classic, and later a...
. Many of the same actors who were considered for the role of Atuk before their deaths - Belushi, Candy and Farley - were also considered for the lead role in A Confederacy of Dunces.
Recent years
The curse has been a featured topic on several TV shows and documentaries. The author of the novel on which it is based, Richler, and the writer of the afterword, Gzowski, died in 2001 and 2002, respectively.The movie was referenced in the commentary track for 2004's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, or simply Anchorman, is a 2004 American comedy film, directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell. The film, which was also written by Ferrell and McKay, is a tongue-in-cheek take on the culture of the 1970s, particularly the then-new Action News format...
, in which Adam McKay
Adam McKay
Adam McKay is an American screenwriter, director, comedian, and actor. He is most famous for his partnership with comedian Will Ferrell, with whom he co-wrote the films Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and The Other Guys....
repeatedly pitches a screenplay called "Eskimo in New York" to Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
. Ferrell remarks several times that he doesn't think it will make a good movie, and refuses to be a part of it.