Michael Douglas, a cardboard face and the $50million movie he never made

Ridley Scott considered Michael Douglas and Gérard Depardieu for the lead in his 1992 film *1492: Conquest of Paradise*, a historical epic about Christopher Columbus. Douglas was a major Hollywood star, but Scott chose Depardieu; the film was poorly received and lost about $40 million.

The casting uncertainty became a running joke among the film’s editors, who covered a poster of Douglas with a cut-out of Depardieu’s face as the director weighed his options. Scott later blamed the film’s failure partly on American audiences struggling with Depardieu’s accent. Douglas went on to star in *Basic Instinct* that same year, which earned about $350 million.