Legendary comedian Dan Aykroyd is ready to return to the wilderness.
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Aykroyd was asked about The Great Outdoors, a 1980s film directed by Howie Deutch and co-starring John Candy. The film grossed $6 million in its opening weekend and ended up with a North American domestic box office gross of $41 and a worldwide gross of $43 million. In the interview, Aykroyd let it be known that he is looking to bring the story back to life, even without Candy.
Candy died on March 4, 1994; a spokeswoman said that his cause of death was a heart attack. He was only 43 years old. In addition to his obesity, he tended to binge eat in response to professional struggles and weighed in excess of 300 pounds at some points in his life. A tribute to Candy was hosted by Dan Aykroyd at the 2007 Grey Cup festivities in Toronto in November 2007.
“Howie and I are working on the sequel, called The Great Outlaws. I am looking for the Candy figure. There are some really interesting names, but I can’t say who. Howie and I are tickled to bring back Roman as a Ponzi scheme guy who victimizes a federal agent. Who knows? If I find the right partner…”
The original 1988 film follows outdoorsy Chicago man Chet Ripley (John Candy), along with his wife, Connie (Stephanie Faracy), and their two kids, Buck (Chris Young) and Ben (Ian Giatti). But a serene weekend of fishing at a Wisconsin lakeside cabin gets crashed by Connie’s obnoxious brother-in-law, Roman Craig (Dan Aykroyd), his wife, Kate (Annette Bening), and the couple’s two daughters. As the excursion wears on, the Ripleys find themselves at odds with the stuffy Craig family.
This isn’t the first time Aykroyd has brought back an old franchise, having written a Ghostbusters 3 script that sat dormant. He also did a sequel to The Blues Brothers.
