The Oscar-winning movie Eddie Murphy was furious he wasn’t offered: “I deserved for them to come to me first”
The biggest stars are the ones who make the studios the most money, and being in that position creates a certain sense of ego and entitlement. Eddie Murphy was the biggest star one of Hollywood’s most indelible institutions had at its disposal, only to be left indignant that he wasn’t even offered the chance to star in one of its most iconic movies.
By the end of the 1980s, few names in the business could hold a candle to Murphy in terms of star wattage, name value, and bankability. He was right at the top of the A-list, and having made several hugely successful films for the same outfit, he was – not unreasonably – under the impression that he should have the pick of the in-development projects.
After all, Murphy and Paramount were shaping up to be a match made in money-making heaven. He’d headlined 48 Hrs, Trading Places, the first two instalments in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, The Golden Child, Coming to America, and Harlem Nights for his home studio between 1982 and 1989, which had combined to earn over $1.3 billion at the box office.
The company had also distributed the theatrical release of his comedy special Raw, which underlined his popularity by becoming the highest-grossing stand-up concert film ever released, a record it still holds. With that in mind, it seems fair that Murphy assumed any high-profile Paramount production would be sent his way for perusal.
It also makes complete sense that he was pissed off when not only was he ignored for a movie that cleared half a billion dollars in ticket sales, captured the zeitgeist, won two Academy Awards, and earned a further three nominations, including ‘Best Picture’, several of his peers turned down the male lead.
Bruce Willis and Michael J Fox knocked back an offer to play Sam Wheat in Ghost before Patrick Swayze was hired, a decision they both came to regret. Whether or not Murphy would have agreed to make spectral pottery with Demi Moore was irrelevant: He’s adamant he should have at least had the opportunity.
“I deserved for them to come to me first,” he told Newsweek, based on his inarguable status as the jewel in Paramount’s box office crown. “That’s how you treat your biggest star. You give him the opportunity to say he’s not interested. I would have been interested in doing Ghost.”
Of course, Ghost would have been an entirely different movie had Murphy played Swayze’s part, and not necessarily a better one. Still, his point isn’t without merit. When the supernatural romance was being offered around to various actors, a list that also included Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Richard Gere, and others, at no point did Paramount even contemplate asking its biggest star if he was interested.
