Screen Junkies remember Tom Selleck as Indy

From an article: "8 Classic Characters That Were Almost Played By Someone Else" Screen Junkies mention the original selection of Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones: Playing a globe-trotting archeologist who tangles with Nazis and other villains to obtain mystical artifacts turned Harrison Ford into an action superstar after his earlier turn as Han Solo in “Star Wars.” Ford was a last minute replacement after Tom Selleck was forced to turn down the role. Selleck was under contract with “Magnum P.I.” when he was cast to play Indiana Jones in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Selleck was unable to get out of his contract in time to shoot the movie, so director Steven Spielberg went with Ford in his place.

http://www.screenjunkies.com/movies/movie-lists/8-classic-characters-that-were-almost-played-by-someone-else/

Raiding the Lost Ark documentary visits classic film

@jamieswb Raiding the Lost Ark: A Filmumentary - Part 1 from jambe davdar on Vimeo.

Check out more: http://spielbergfanclub.com/2011/11/watch-17-min-clip-of-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-documentary/

Tom Selleck on 'rotten deal' - Raiders of the Lost Ark

TOM SELLECK is still waiting to work with STEVEN SPIELBERG, more than a quarter of a century after he missed out on the chance to play INDIANA JONES. Selleck was offered the role of the swashbuckling archeologist in 1981's Raider's of the Lost Ark, but was contracted to star in Magnum, P.I. and a studio dispute forced Spielberg to hire Harrison Ford instead. The director promised Selleck they would make a movie together - and the 62 year old is still waiting. He says,

"I still have a letter from Steven Spielberg saying what a rotten deal I'd gotten and that I had a part out there and somewhere along the line we are going to work together. "I haven't played that card yet."

-December 2007

Chevy Chase was also considered for Indiana Jones

Seriously?

from the site:

The role: Indiana Jones
Who got it: Harrison Ford

It sounds completely absurd, but, according to Popeater and IMDb, Chevy Chase was amongst the actors considered for the part of Indiana Jones in the franchise’s first installment. The Indiana Jones series became one of the decade’s most lucrative movie franchises and allowed Steven Spielberg to recover from the failure of his previous film, 1941, starring Chase’s SNL cohorts Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. It’s hard to imagine Chevy Chase’s Raiders being any good, and I imagine he was pretty far down the casting list. Chase’s portrayal of Indiana Jones would have been laughable at best and might have caused Spielberg’s career to slump even further.






http://splitsider.com/2011/09/the-lost-roles-of-chevy-chase

Tom Selleck's mustache in other moview

Here's what happens when you put Tom Selleck's legendary mustache in other films

Great photoshop work: Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones

Source: http://www.rabittooth.com/

Selleck missing out on Indy role makes list of missed choices

Movie Holes list: 50 Original Casting Choices

With the rehabilitated curiosity – stemming from the footage that was recently released… albeit 25 years later! – in Eric Stoltz’s engagement as Marty McFly in “Back to the Future” pre-Michael J.Fox, and of course the big casting switcheroo on “The Hangover 2” (Mel Gibson swapped for Liam Neeson), thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the could-have-been’s of the celluloid struggle.
The following list includes roles that some passed on, movies that an actor or actress was forced to pull out of for one reason or another (ultimately having to be replaced), and some, like Stoltz, that were vetoed either just before – or at the start of – a particular film’s shoot.

43. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Tom Selleck as ‘Indiana Jones’
It was a done deal. TV star Tom Selleck would play adventure-seeking archaeologist Indiana Jones in a film by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Unfortunately the pilot of a TV series that Selleck had filmed (“Magnum P.I”) was picked up and Selleck was legally obligated to it. So the moustached-hunk was off to Hawaii, and “Raiders” was a hero short. Spielberg suggested that Lucas hire his “Star Wars” star Harrison Ford to play “Raiders”’ superman, but Lucas was dead against using actors he’d used before (always has been). Lucas eventually agreed that Ford was the best man for the job.