Harold Ramis was originally charged with writing a screenplay for Confederacy in 1982, and it was easy to imagine John Belushi in the role of Ignatius; he had, in fact, been the first actor considered for the role when Hollywood first took notice of the story. Belushi’s untimely death in 1982 sank the Ramis project and left many wondering who else could play this unique role. John Waters was interested in developing the property for his favorite actor, Divine, but Divine passed away before any definite plans could be made. Over time, John Candy and Chris Farley were both floated as possibilities, but again, each actor’s early death shelved any hope of a production taking shape any time soon. Some in the industry joked of a curse on the project and anyone who attempted to bring the book to the screen, but as time went on, the jokes turned to wonder that this book had not been made into a film yet.