Atuk (Inuit for "Grandfather") is the name of an unfilmed American screenplay, intended to be a film adaptation based upon the 1963 novel The Incomparable Atuk, by Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It is essentially a fish out of water comedy of a proud, mighty Inuit hunter trying to adapt to life in the big city with satirical elements on racism, materialism, and popular culture.
Peter Gzowski's afterword adds some historical context, and elaborates on the satirized real-life counterparts of several of the novel's minor characters, including Pierre Berton. A film adaptation was planned in the beginning of the 1970s by Norman Jewison, who purchased the film rights. Another adaptation was to have been shot in 1988. Although numerous Hollywood film studios have shown an interest in producing the film over the years, it remains unfilmed and the entire project is in development hell.
An urban legend claims that a curse has killed all the actors who have shown an interest in the lead role. These include John Belushi, Sam Kinison, John Candy and Chris Farley and even others who were planning to be in the film or associates of the late leads who had read the script in their presence, such as Michael O'Donoghue and Phil Hartman.