25 Things You Didn't Know About Ghostbusters

8. Ghostbusters Killed A Big Screen Adaptation Of A Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

According to Ivan Reitman, in a roundabout way, if it wasn't for Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, there may never have been a Ghostbusters. How about that for a crossover?

Before there was ever a Ghostbusters, a big-screen adaptation of Adam’ iconic novel was in the works, and Reitman was overseeing the project alongside Joe Medjuck and Michael C. Gross. After receiving three drafts of the script from the author, the team began considering who they might cast in the role of Ford Prefect and began floating around the names Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd.

When they approached Aykroyd about the possibility of playing an alien - a role he would no doubt have loved to play under any other circumstances - the actor come writer decided to shop his own script instead. After reading it, Reitman and his counterparts gave up on Hitchhikers Guide and the rest is history.