8 More Movie Posters That Nearly Happened

Sarah Polley was originally cast as Penny Lane in 'Almost Famous.' She dropped out of production to work on a low-budget Canadian film, 'The Law of Enclosures,' instead. We would say that was a bad choice, but maybe she wouldn't have been in 'Slings and Arrows' if she followed through on the Cameron Crowe project, and that show is great.

It's hard to think of anyone else besides Tom Hanks in 'Big,' let alone Mr. "Are You Talkin' to Me." But as director Penny Marshall revealed in her memoir, Hanks originally passed on the role that helped cement him as one of the world's biggest stars.

Marshall tested ever actor in Hollywood for the role (even Gary Busey) before sending the script to De Niro, who was interested in doing a family movie after a string of violent Scorsese flicks. The studio however didn't want the star of 'Untouchables' in their family comedy, and disagreements over salary led De Niro to abandon the project. At least Bobby D finally found mainstream fodder in 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' and 'Meet the Parents.'

Nicolas Cage was originally cast as Joel in 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.' As with most things Nic Cage-related, we're not sure if that would've been an improvement or a terrible idea.

Natalie Portman was originally cast as Juliet, but everybody decided it looked like Leonardo DiCaprio was molesting her in the footage. (She was 15 and he was 21 at the time.) She was replaced with Claire Danes, who was a more reasonable 17.

We admit, we would've felt weird watching Molly Ringwald play a prostitute. Like in a "hey wasn't she just in high school?," kind of way. So, we're kind of glad she turned it down. She also turned down the lead in 'Ghost.' And also 'Scream.' Apparently the only thing good enough for Molly was that '90s television adaptation of 'The Stand.'

That's right, Meg Ryan was considered for the part of Mrs. Mia Wallace. Imagining it makes our brains hurt. Ryan wasn't the only actress considered before the part eventually went to (the now so incredibly obvious choice) Uma Thurman -- Holly Hunter and Michelle Pfeiffer were both also possibilities.

The part of Veronica Sawyer was actually written with Jennifer Connelly in mind. Maybe she passed so she could work on 'Some Girls' instead. Remember that one? No? Neither do we.

Oof. This makes us hurt like we got kicked in the spleen. Apparently Bill Murray missed out on the part that later went to Bob Hoskins because of his method of receiving role offers which involves calling his 1-800 number and leaving a voicemail. Murray later said it's one of the roles he regrets missing out on. Double sad face.