How Ben Affleck's film with Christopher Walken was canceled

“'Crocodile Dundee' was a big movie, so this was a fish-out-of-water movie,” Affleck explained. “[I]It was the story of an Eskimo who came to New York City and befriended a teenager, me, and we hit it off. I was the son of a Donald Trump-type character played by Christopher Walken. After two days of shooting, Kinison was so freaked out that they fired him and stopped the film. Sam was totally coked up and unreasonable and was demanding all these changes to the script, so they just stopped.”

At the time, Kinison was a big name in stand-up comedy. The bombastic ex-preacher was known for his misogynistic themes and the primal scream at the end of his sentences. He died in a car crash in 1992 and will be remembered as a comedian of a very specific era. His role as a fish out of water in the style of Crocodile Dundee is undoubtedly fascinating. However, Christopher Walken as a Trump-like figure seems to be the real missed opportunity of this unrealized film.

By the end of the 1980s, Walken had already won an Oscar for the harrowing epic from the Vietnam War era The hunter who goes through hell and was well on its way to becoming the unrivalled purveyor of bizarre appeal and spectacular cameos. The unconventional Depression-era musical Pennies from heaven had allowed him to show off all the dance training he had done in his youth. He was tap dancing on the counter of a dingy bar to the tune of Cole Porter's “Let's Misbehave” while slowly removing his clothes.

In other words, until these Crocodile Dundee There was a knockoff in the works, Walken's cards were definitely on the table, and any director who hired him to portray a Trump character knew what exciting moments would await future audiences.

Unfortunately, Affleck didn't offer any insight into Walken's role as the real estate mogul. He didn't even reveal how he felt about playing the Oscar winner's son on screen at such an early stage in his career. All we know is that, thankfully, neither Affleck's nor Walken's careers were damaged by the film's cancellation.

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