The Cursed Movie Script

You read every day, constantly one medium or the other: A Facebook post, a tweet, some SMS, books, e-books, online articles, and even subtitles while watching some movie. Did you ever stop to realise how our life would be if we don’t have anything to read? But can reading something bring your end?

An urban legend or a cursed movie script is said to be responsible for many popular deaths. Till date, nobody can say for sure that the script is haunted and it killed all those Hollywood actors; at the same time we couldn’t rule it out as just a few coincidences.

Today, let us know about the haunted movie script: The Cursed Script of Atuk.

In the year 1977, A Canadian movie director, Norman Jewison, commissioned Tod Carroll to work on the adaptation of a novel that he recently read: Mordecai Richler’s The Incomparable Atuk. Carroll was an accomplished writer, he started working on the project. He simply titled it Atuk. The story was simple, had some satire with some social commentary.

The story goes like

Atuk, a young Inuit trapper who falls for a New York correspondent called Michelle Robinson. She came for an assignment to his town to shoot some commercials for the real estate company she worked for. Atuk arrives in New York City, and he rescues the child of a corrupt and powerful real estate mogul, who was also Michelle’s employer. The businessman hires Atuk and tells him to be a part of a project of building city-like apartments and houses in the wilderness of Alaska. Atuk agrees after he learns that Michelle will also be working with him. But then Atuk finds out the true purpose of the venture. It wants to destroy the ecosystem there. He then fights against it. Atuk wins over the executives and Michelle. He saves the village and gets the girl.

It was a simple story that Tod Carroll was proud of. He could never have known the havoc his screenplay would wreak upon those who became involved with it.

The Movie Script

In 1979 Carroll prepared the final draft. He requested a personal friend, actor-comedian John Belushi, to read his final draft. Tod Carroll had Belushi in his mind for the lead role, and Belushi reportedly liked the story. In 1981 Belushi agreed to do the movie, but unfortunately, that never became a reality.

On 5th March 1982, Belushi’s trainer and friend Bill Wallace found the actor lying dead at the Chateau Marmont Hotel, Hollywood. In his autopsy report, it was found that an overdose of heroin and cocaine was the cause of Belushi’s death. It was later found that a woman had spent the night with him. She said that she gave him a high dose by accident.

United Artists bought the script in the year 1987. An actor-comedian named Sam Kinison expressed interest in the script. Sam Kinison wanted to play the lead role. He started production the following year. However, he couldn’t accomplish much. He became a nuisance on the sets because of his argumentative nature and alcoholism, which resulted in a fight with the financial executives of the movie, who terminated the project immediately. Some say that Kinison secretly tried to rewrite the script. It was also said by many that Kinison came to the set with that new script, and when the executives saw this, they fired him then and there. On 10th April 1992, Kinison with his entourage met with a road accident. A drunk driver collided head-on with the car of Kinison. Kinison had sustained serious neck and head injuries that eventually took his life. As he lied in one of his friends’ arms on the spot, he was heard saying “I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die” as if he was requesting someone only visible to him. After some time, it was as if the invisible entity responded, as Kinison was heard replying softly, “Okay, okay, okay” and he quietly died after that.

As soon as Kinison’s death made to the news, few people started believing the curse of the Atuk script. Soon the screenplay went to another popular film star: John Candy.

John Candy came to know of the Atuk project in the year 1993. He requested one copy of it. He agreed to work in the movie and wanted to play the lead role. On 4th March 1994, while shooting in Durango, John Candy was found lying dead in his hotel room. He died of cardiac arrest. From this incident onwards the Curse of Atuk was born. People started claiming that Candy’s death was because of the cursed script.

Michael O’Donoghue was the one who reportedly gave John Candy the script. He was involved in the script’s initial stages when Tod Carroll first started working on it. The script was delivered to Belushi in the year 1981. Later In the year 1994, it was presented to Candy. This new theory, cannot be considered, for 8 months after the death of Candy. On 8th November 1994, O’Donoghue died of a brain haemorrhage. People started believing he was another victim of that curse.

In the year 1996, United Artists began a new project on the screenplay of Atuk. They offered actor-comedian Chris Farley for the role of Atuk. Farley was a great fan of John Belushi. He knew that his idol was involved with this project and he considered playing the role will be an honour for him. Unfortunately, he never could play that role.

Chris Farley was extremely obese, and he used to take drugs and alcohol excessively. By 1997, his condition was out of control. Farley’s brother took him to a renowned hospital. On 18th December 1997, Farley came back to his apartment with a call girl. He spent the night doing drug and drinking excessively. Around 2 am, Farley had a heart attack, and he collapsed. He eventually died.

Unfortunately, soon another great actor became a victim of the Curse of Atuk. It was Phil Hartman, and his death is the most heartbreaking.

Hartman worked with Chris Farley on the popular TV show: Saturday Night Live. Chris Farley wanted Hartman on the movie. He wanted him to play Alexander McKuen, the movie’s villain. In 1998, Hartman’s tragic end came. Hartman’s marriage had been difficult for several years as his wife, Brynn, was addicted to drugs and alcohol.

On 28th May 1998, Hartman caught Brynn drinking after coming home. At 3 am Brynn came to his bedroom where he was sleeping, pulled out her handgun, pointed at him and shot him thrice at point blank range. She confessed to murdering her husband, and she was saying, “I told you I did it! I killed him, and I don’t know why I did it.”

Brynn locked herself in their bedroom, and she was shouting the same words again. She then shot herself. When people knew about Hartman and his wife’s death, they started believing that the script of Atuk is haunted and cursed.

United Artists executives refuted the claims of any supernatural entity, and quietly seized the script.

So what are think of this script? Are these deaths indicate something sinister and foreboding? What dark forces are attached to this script?

Over the course of almost 20 years, seven celebrities died suddenly in tragic circumstances. They all had one thing in common; each of them read Atuk’s film script.

So, the question is for all of you: Is the Atuk’s film script cursed or it’s just an urban legend?

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