Casting Calls that sound pretty stupid now (in most cases)

It is fair to say that the majority of my movie enjoyment comes from the actors. You can have the best story idea and production values in the world, but if you have a stiff delivering the lines the movie will suffer. Conversely, a great actor trying to work with crap won't be able to save your movie either. But a movie that has that "perfect" casting, like Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man or Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley*... those films were just magic.

But what if those guys did not get those parts? Who could we have been looking at instead? Here are a few films that are near and dear to me, and the castings that could have been.

Superman (1978): The part of the Man of Steel was played by the then unknown Christopher Reeve. But here are 5 actors that were also up for the part:

-Warren Beatty (considered)
-Charles Bronson (tested for the part)
-James Caan (turned it down)
-Clint Eastwood (turned it down)
-Arnold Schwarenegger (tested for the part)
Also initially considered for director: Sam Peckinpah.

The Matrix (1999): Neo was played by Keanu Reeves, Morpheus by Laurence Fishburne and Agent Smith by Hugo Weaving. It could have been:

-Sean Connery as Morpheus (turned it down due to not understanding the script. Later agreed to do The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as he regretted passing on The Matrix as well as Lord of the Rings)
-Kevin Costner as Neo (considered)
-Jean Reno as Agent Smith (turned it down to do Godzilla)
-Sandra Bullock as Trinity (considered)
-Val Kilmer (turned down parts as Neo and Morpheus)
Warner Bros wanted Brad Pitt to play the part of Neo. The Wachowski's wanted the part to go to Johnny Depp. Somehow, Keanu Reeves was the compromise. How much you wanna bet that would not be the case today?

Ghostbusters (1984) Bill Murry played Peter Venkman, Rick Moranis played Louis Tully and Ernie Hudson played Winston Zeddemore. But what about:

-John Candy as Louis Tully (the role was originally written for him)
-Eddie Murphy as Winston Zeddemore (role was originally written for him)
-John Belushi as Peter Venkman (role was originally written for him)
On top of this Huey Lewis and the News turned down the opportunity to write the Ghostbusters theme song.

*If you were curious, Al Pacino, Sylvester Stallone and Mickey Rourke were all conidered for the part of Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop. With any of those actors cast the movie would have been more action and less comedy. It would also a more expensive film than the studio wanted to make. So things were rewritten to be more of an action-comedy and Eddie Murphy was cast.

In the case of Spider-Man, instead of Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spidey and Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin, it could have been Heath Ledger as your hero. If that doesn't work for you, how about Leonardo DiCaprio? Nicholas Cage almost had the part of The Green Goblin/Osborn. Also considered for the Goblin was John Malkovich.