Unfortunately some of our greatest talents left us far too early, including comedic greats like Chris Farley, John Ritter, Andy Kaufman and John Belushi. Whether he was making us laugh on the small screen on Saturday Night Live or on the big screen in Animal House, John Belushi was an original in every conceivable way. The guy blew up when he hit the scene, joining folks like Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy and Chevy Chase as the first to crossover from SNL to feature films. Sadly, though, only two years after starring alongside Dan Aykroyd in The Blues Brothers, Belushi died of a drug overdose.
Now, almost 30 years after his death, Todd Phillips (director of The Hangover and Due Date) and Steve Conrad (writer of The Pursuit of Happyness and The Promotion) are teaming on a John Belushi biopic with Warner Bros. after the studio recently acquired the rights from Belushi’s estate. As of now Conrad will write the script and Phillips will produce with an eye at directing (presumably depending upon whether he’s available or not, what with The Hangover 2 shooting soon).
We haven’t gotten to the fun part yet, which, of course, has to do with who gets to play the iconic comedian. Immediately one might think Zach Galifianakis is perfect for the part (and he might be, considering his relationship with Phillips and his whole funny fat guy routine), but he’s already 40 years old and Belushi died at 33. Same goes for Jack Black, who carries a lot of the same wacky, off-the-charts qualities as Belushi. So, The Hollywood Reporter is now throwing out names like Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Ethan Supleee and Tyler Labine, the latter of which played Belushi in a TV movie back in 2005.
Who do you think should play Belushi? Could Galifianakis pull it off, or should someone younger like Jonah Hill be given a chance to do something a little bit different?
