Screen icons that never were: Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones, Nick Cage as Superman, Sam Neil as 007 

Deep in the Peruvian jungle, the fedora-wearing explorer looks at a crumbling map amid his search for a lost temple.

When an ally pulls out a gun behind him, Indiana Jones, his moustache almost twitching, swivels to disarm the traitor with his trusty whip.

That is how the archaeologist’s first appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark could have looked if Tom Selleck – famed for his bushy lip-warmer in Magnum PI – had not pulled out of the project.

The story of what could have been is just one example of how major films might have been very different, highlighted by MailOnline following the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – Harrison Ford‘s final outing as his on-screen alter ego.

Nicolas Cage had been set to portray Superman in a film directed by Tim Burton, before the project was cancelled in the late 1990s.

And Marty McFly in Back to the Future was originally portrayed by Eric Stoltz, who spent five weeks filming before producers replaced him with Michael J Fox. 

Below, MailOnline reveals all the films that could have been, and those that would be very different had the headline stars not pulled out, been replaced or turned the roles down.  

Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones

Harrison Ford’s name is synonymous with Indiana Jones.

Including this month’s release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, he has played the buccaneering archaeologist in five films, starting with Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981. 

But he was actually only cast in the role after his fellow star Tom Selleck – famous for his bushy moustache – dropped out of the role. 

In a panel discussion earlier this year, Ford said he was ‘grateful’ to Selleck.

‘How I got the job? Tom Selleck had the job, but he also incurred an obligation to do a television series and he was unable to get out of that contract,’ he said. 

‘I became the second choice, and I’m very grateful for Tom. Thank you, Tom, man. If you’re listening, thank you again.’

Nicolas Cage as Superman

If things had worked out differently, Superman Lives would have been another feather in the cap of prolific star Nick Cage.

The project, which was conceived in the early 1990s, got as far as costume and set development before it was scrapped in 1998.

Photos show a long-haired Cage posing in the muscled costume, which was developed by famed Hollywood designer Colleen Attwood.

The suit bore the familiar S logo and long flowing red cape, although the dark blue main colour was a breakaway from the costume worn by Christopher Reeve in his four outings as Superman.

One version of the new suit scrapped the signature red pants entirely.  

The film’s director was set to be Tim Burton, who had enjoyed success with Batman and its 1992 sequel Batman Returns, both of which starred Michael Keaton.

According to writer Kevin Smith, producer Jon Peters did not want to see Superman fly and insisted that he fight a giant spider at the end of the film. 

Villains included Brainiac – familiar to fans of the Superman comics – as well as arch-nemesis Lex Luthor and Doomsday, the monster who kills the superhero.

The 2015 documentary The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? tells how sets were also built for the film, at a cost of $20million.

The documentary also reveals footage of Cage laughing and joking while wearing his costume.  

Budget estimates for the production ranged from $140million to closer to $300million. 

It was the cost that ultimately pushed studio Warner Bros to scrap the project entirely in 1998.

Speaking to Variety about the film earlier this year, Cage said: ‘It was more of a 1980s Superman with like, the samurai black long hair. 

‘I thought it was gonna be a really different, sort of emo Superman, but we never got there.’

Dustin Hoffman as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner

When Ridley Scott began working on Blade Runner, the first man he considered for the role was Dustin Hoffman.

Hoffman, at least six inches shorter than his fellow star, would have made a very different Rick Deckard.

However, he left the project after what he said were ‘artistic differences’ and so Ford’s status as a Hollywood megastar was further secured. 

Sam Neill as James Bond

It was a job he never actually wanted, but Sam Neill still got as far as auditioning as James Bond. 

The Jurassic Park star pitched himself as the replacement for Roger Moore when he left the role in 1985 after seven outings as the famous secret agent. 

A short clip from Neill’s screen test shows him recreating a scene from Sean Connery’s 1963 film From Russia With Love.

Gun in hand, Neill walks into a room wearing an unbuttoned shirt and has a verbal exchange with ‘Tatania Romanova’ – a character in From Russia With Love – who is lying in a bed. 

The scene ends with him saying: ‘My friends call me Bond, James Bond.’ 

In the end, Neill did not convince producers in his audition and the role instead went to Timothy Dalton, who went on to star in The Living Daylights and License to Kill.

Neill has said since that he only auditioned after being urged to by his agent. 

‘I went along and auditioned for that but that was under great sufferance and I wouldn’t have done it anyway,’ he said in 2015. 

In a separate interview in 2012, he would not have wanted the attention that those who play Bond – such as Pierce Brosnan – get.

‘If you walk through London with Pierce people shout at him. Why would you want that?

‘That’s the worst — losing your anonymity,’ he told the Belfast Telegraph.

James Brolin as James Bond

If Roger Moore had not dropped his retirement thoughts after five outings as Bond, James Brolin would have been the man who replaced him. 

In one of two screen tests he did, Brolin is seen being ambushed by an assailant while on the phone. 

After fending off his would-be killer, he picks the phone back up and says: ‘Are you still there? I had a little trouble with the line.’

The other audition showed him again re-creating the encounter with Tatania Romanova in From Russia With Love.

Like Connery, Brolin’s Bond is wearing only a bath towel. 

His screen tests were sufficiently impressive for him to actually be cast as Bond, but Moore ultimately decided to return to make Octopussy in 1983 and so Brolin was left out in the cold. 

Speaking to the Epxress, Brolin said: ‘I literally left [producer] Cubby Broccoli in London, came home to get all my stuff to live in England for a year, when Roger Moore said, ‘Oh I’ll do one more!’

Asked if he was disappointed about missing out, Brolin said: ‘Yeah! I was really up for that.  

Moore went on to star in Octopussy before reprising his role as Bond for one final time in A View to a Kill. 

Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly 

As most true Back to the Future fans will tell you, Michael J Fox was not the star who was initially cast as Marty McFly in 1985 mega-hit Back to the Future. 

That honour fell to Eric Stoltz, who filmed several scenes before director Robert Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale decided to sack him. 

Speaking in 2010, Zemeckis said of the change: ‘He’s a magnificent actor, but his comedy sensibilities were very different from what I had written with Bob.

‘And he and I were just never able to make that work.’

Zemeckis said he showed Steven Spielberg – the film’s executive producer –  the first five weeks of footage and told him they weren’t ‘getting the laughs I was hoping we would get.’

Zemeckis added: ‘So I had to make this horrific decision which was heartbreaking for everybody. Luckily I was able to convince the studio to let me re-shoot five weeks of work.’ 

Fox’s performance propelled him to superstardom, whilst Stoltz has had to settle for a less high profile career.

The available footage of Stoltz’s attempt at playing Marty does give fans a glimpse at how the film would have looked had he remained on the production.

Russell Crowe as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings

Viggo Mortensen’s star turn as Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy was hailed as an acting triumph.

But, if things had turned out differently, Russell Crowe would have portrayed the character.

He is said to have been offered the role, along with 10 per cent of the film’s financial return. 

However, he told interviewer Howard Stern that he believed director Peter Jackson did not actually want him on the project.

‘I think he was forced into talking to me, because there was a moment in time when everybody wanted me in everything … my instinct was that he had somebody else in mind … and he should be able to hire the actor that he wants.’ 

Using AI image generator Midjourney, MailOnline can give fans a glimpse into what might have been. 

Crowe is seen in a suit of armour with a sword on his back, though some may notice how he looks suspiciously like his character Maximus Decimus Meridius in 2000 film Gladiator.  

Leslie Grace as Batgirl

Batgirl was set to be the next big superhero blockbuster – before studio Warner Bros scrapped the $100million production last summer. 

The decision to axe the film came after a series of test screenings in which audiences panned it. 

The film starred Leslie Grace in the titular role, while Brendan Fraser was set to portray villain Firefly.

Michael Keaton also reprised his role as Batman – 30 years on from previous portrayal of the caped crusader in 1992 film Batman returns. 

Fraser later criticised the decision to show rough cuts of the film to test audiences and said he enjoyed the project.

‘I don’t know about you, but I don’t eat half-baked cake,’ the actor said. ‘I don’t want to see something that’s not ready yet…’

Fraser opened up to Stern about the villainous role of Firefly he played: ‘It was a story about a guy who had been in the service and his benefits were cut and he was very angry with the system and what else is he going to do but burn it to the ground?’

He added, ‘You’ve got some sympathy to him, you’ve also got some humanity to him, and on top of that, a screw loose – like all the best bad guys, you kind of like him a little bit.’

Fraser said that he ‘relished’ the part and described it as ‘great fun’ despite the disappointing fate of the film.

Opening up about his villainous character, he added: ‘It was a story about a guy who had been in the service and his benefits were cut and he was very angry with the system and what else is he going to do but burn it to the ground?’

‘You’ve got some sympathy to him, you’ve also got some humanity to him, and on top of that, a screw loose – like all the best bad guys, you kind of like him a little bit.’

Fraser said that he ‘relished’ the part and described it as ‘great fun’ despite the disappointing fate of the film.  

Midnight Rider – abandoned after crew member was run over by freight train 

Midnight Rider was supposed to be a biopic about American musician Greg Allman, of Allman Brothers Band fame. 

But the production ended in tragedy in 2015 when, during filming on a railway line in the state of Georgia, one member of crew, camera assistant Sarah Elizabeth Jones, was hit and killed by a freight train.

Video showed the crew desperately trying to get themselves and their equipment off the track as the train loomed into view. 

The stars in the film, including Kurt Russell’s son Wyatt and Academy Award winner William Hurt, were unharmed, but other members of the crew suffered injuries.

Director Randal Miller later received a one-year jail sentence followed by 10 years of probation. 

Earlier this year, a court in Georgia denied his request to end his probation early. 

The terms of his probation stated he was prohibited from ‘serving as director, first assistant director or in any supervisory position’ with responsibility ‘for the safety for employees in the industry,’ according to court documents.

Despite initial attempts to continue making Midnight Rider, production was permanently halted.