The curse of ‘The Incomparable Atuk’

Or, more likely, the curse of being overweight and unhealthy…

The screenplay has been kicked around Hollywood for over 30 years. Numerous stars have been attached to the project, and each has been executed by fate.

In the early 1980s, John Belushi was slated to play Atuk, but he died of a drug overdose in 1982 at the age of 33.

Next, stand-up comic Sam Kinison was offered the role, but he was killed by a head-on collision with a drunk driver at the age of 38.

Lovable lug John Candy was also considered, until he succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 43.

Lunatic SNL star Chris Farley was next in line, until he too died of a drug overdose at just 33 years old, a grim mirror of the passing of his idol Belushi.

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So here’s a new collective noun:

“A curse of Richlers.”