Trivia / John Hughes

• Artist Disillusionment: The death of John Candy in 1994 seems to have caused Hughes' decision to step back from the Hollywood scene and become a Reclusive Artist. Hughes's friend Vince Vaughn said in an interview shortly after Hughes' death that Hughes would probably helmed more films as a director, if it weren't for Candy's untimely death.
• Creator Backlash: Hughes considered Career Opportunities to be "a disappointment" because he "didn't have [his] usual creative controls." He also called the film "cheap and vulgar" thanks to his contributions being ignored for the most part. Hughes even went as far as to ask Universal to take his name off the film, but the studio refused in order to cash in on the success of Home Alone.
  John Hughes: Suddenly I'm a commodity. If Home Alone hadn't come out my name wouldn't be on Career Opportunities four times.
• What Could Have Been: He wrote a bunch of Shermer stories, and even continued writing them after he left the Hollywood scene. It goes without saying that his fans would REALLY like to take a peek at his notes.
  • Even while he was active, he had a bunch of ideas that never came to fruition.
    John Hughes: I may be writing about young marriage. Or babies. Or Breakfast Club II or a woman's story. I have a million ideas and can't decide what's next. I guess I'll just have to dive into something. Maybe a play.^note This quote is from a letter John wrote to a then-teenage girl named Allison. They were pen pals for several years.
  • He wrote the first draft of Dumb and Dumber. Due to the deal he made with the directors, his name was to be stripped from the project, including the script.
  • Many examples of unproduced screenplays he had wrote and were rejected by studios were:
    • National Lampoon's Jaws 3/People 0 (1979). A documentary spoof of the making of Jaws. Due to a lawsuit from Steven Spielberg looming if it was made, Universal Studios scrapped it.
    • National Lampoon's The Joy of Sex (1981). A comedy anthology film about the life of a young man obsessed with sex, even when he enters adulthood. It was originally to star John Belushi and be directed by Penny Marshall, but when a reluctant Belushi decided to go ahead with the film, he died from a drug overdose the next morning and Paramount did not produce the movie. The script was eventually re-written as a teenage sex comedy under the title Joy Of Sex in 1984. Matty Simmons was involved with the movie, but ordered to have his name and the National Lampoon moniker taken off the film after he saw the final cut.
    • The History of Ohio from the Beginning of Time to the End of the Universe (early 80s). A dramatic adaptation of Lampoon’s Sunday Newspaper Parody, an Onion-like sendup of a small-town paper.
    • Lovecats (1984) A movie that would've starred Molly Ringwald, named after the The Cure song of the same name. The plot is unknown, but a mixtape of what the soundtrack would've been was made by Hughes to give Ringwald an idea of what the film would be like.
    • The Last Good Year (1984). A movie with Anthony Michael Hall set in 1962, the titular last good year before The British Invasion. The movie would follow America's cultural shift following the Invasion. Just like Lovecats, a mixtape of the supposed soundtrack was made by Hughes.
    • The New Kid (1986). A movie meant to star Anthony Michael Hall as the new kid in college. Passed over by Howard Deutch in favor of Pretty in Pink.
    • Oil and Vinegar (1987). A comedy-drama road movie meant to star Matthew Broderick and Molly Ringwald. Broderick would play a groom driving out of town to a wedding with Ringwald as a hitchhiker that he picks up. They both then talk about their personal problems in the car for the remainder of the trip.
    • Bartholomew Vs. Neff (1991). A comedy meant to star John Candy and Sylvester Stallone as feuding neighbors. Likely passed over after Curly Sue received negative reception from critics.
    • Black Cat Bone: The Return of Huckleberry Finn (1991). A modern retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
    • Peanuts (1992). A supposed live-action adaptation of the titular comic strip. Likely canceled in favor of Dennis the Menace.
    • The Bee (1994). A Disney movie about a man, played by Daniel Stern, and his daylong battle with a simple bee.
    • Dumb & Dumber (1994). According to Kirk Honeycutt, Hughes wrote an incomplete initial draft of the Dumb and Dumber script; he eventually abandoned the script, sold it to the Farrelly brothers and had his name removed
    • Tickets (1996). A group of teenagers pull an all-nighter in sub-zero temperatures waiting for tickets to a legendary rock concert. Never made due to a similar film, Detroit Rock City, entering production first.
    • Grisbys Go Broke (2002). A middle-class family lose all their money and are forced to spend the holidays frugally. It was rumored that Paramount was going to make this movie upon the passing of Hughes, but no news has been heard since.

---