‘Ghost’ at 35: How Jerry Zucker pivoted from ‘Airplane!’ and ‘Naked Gun’ spoof comedy to an unlikely Best Picture nominee

At first glance, Jerry Zucker wouldn't seem like the kind of filmmaker to have a ghost of a chance at crafting a Best Picture-nominated film. But that unlikely event came to pass 35 years ago when the codirector of spoof comedies like Airplane! and The Naked Gun made the supernatural romance Ghost. Released on July 13, 1990, the film went on to become the year's biggest domestic box-office hit and a surprise Oscar powerhouse.

Zucker rose to Hollywood fame as a member of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker trio that included brother David Zucker and their friend, the late Jim Abrahams. Together, they wrote The Kentucky Fried Movie before helming seminal comedies Airplane! and Top Secret! (but not 2017's Mother!, despite Darren Aronofsky's similar flair for punctuation).

Hot on the heels of their 1986 non-spoof comedy hit Ruthless People, the team locked down a two-year deal with Paramount Pictures. That deal launched with a bang thanks to The Naked Gun, based on their short-lived TV series, Police Squad. (A new Naked Gun, starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, is aiming for an Aug. 1 theatrical release.)

Three years later, Jerry Zucker stepped into the director’s chair solo for the first time to make Ghost, which represented a wild pivot from the comedies he had become synonymous with. Written by Bruce Joel Rubin, the story follows banker Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze), who is deeply in love with artist girlfriend Molly Jensen (Demi Moore). After calling out some financial irregularities to his coworker and best friend Carl Bruner (Tony Goldwyn), the lovers are mugged on the street, resulting in Sam’s death and eventual reappearance as a walking spirit.

Naturally, it turns out the random mugging wasn’t so random — Carl orchestrated the incident and has designs on Molly. Now, Sam has to learn how to communicate with the realm of the living to protect the love of his life from an increasingly perilous situation. Good thing he has the help of a particularly sarcastic and skilled psychic, Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg).

Rubin wrote the treatment for Ghost prior to moving to Hollywood to pursue his screenwriting career. Just before making the move, he was dropped by his agent and informed that his brainchild was “too metaphysical and nobody wanted to make movies about ghosts.”

That prediction turned out to be off-base as several directors — including Miloš Forman and Frank Oz — expressed interest in the story. But Zucker eventually secured the job, although he was far from Rubin's preferred choice for director. In fact, Rubin initially refused to even entertain the notion of a Zucker-directed Ghost. Fortunately a congenial dinner with the eager filmmaker — where no discussion of the script was allowed — changed his mind.

While Rubin cranked out 19 drafts of the script, Zucker endured a number of near-miss casting choices. Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer almost played lovers Sam and Molly, but both stars turned the project down. "The studio wanted Harrison Ford in this so badly, and I did, too," Zucker recalled in one interview. "They took him out to lunch, and he was very honest. He said, 'Why are you making this? Is it a comedy? Is it a tragedy? It’s very weird.'"

Swayze, on the other hand, totally got the movie's vibe. But there was one problem — Zucker didn't entirely get him. "To my shame, I really didn’t believe in Patrick," the director admitted in that same interview. The actor demonstrated his passion for the part by agreeing to fly in for an audition and that tryout was enough to make the director a believer.

Meanwhile, Paramount wanted Tina Turner for the role of Oda Mae, but Zucker and Swayze were set on Goldberg, even traveling to Mississippi for a live reading with the comedian-turned-actress. “Ghost was my first drama, and I was terribly afraid of not getting it right," Zucker remarked. "I was really fortunate that Patrick and Whoopi were able to read together so that I could see it in front of me and go, 'Yeah, that works.'" (Swayze died in 2009 after battle with pancreatic cancer.)

To this day, Ghost is an unusual film, mixing both comedic and horror undertones into its central love story. But the movie is filled with moments that have entered the pop culture lexicon, most notably Swayze and Moore's steamy pottery scene scored to the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody." Scenes like that powered the film to over $200 million in the U.S. alone, topping hits like Dances With Wolves, Pretty Woman, and even Home Alone as 1990 drew to a close. (Home Alone had a longer tail, though, earning $280 million by the end of its theatrical run, which extended into the following year.)

At the 63rd Academy Awards, Ghost received five nominations, including Best Picture, Best Film Editing for the legendary Walter Murch, and Best Original Score. While it missed out on those three Oscars, the film did score two big wins. Rubin's "too metaphysical" script won Best Original Screenplay and Goldberg became the second Black actress in Hollywood history to win Best Supporting Actress, following in the footsteps of Gone With the Wind's Hattie McDaniel.

"Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted this," Goldberg said upon accepting her award. She went on to credit both Zucker and Swayze for making the case for her casting. "I have to thank Jerry Zucker for taking the time he took before he decided to use me, because it meant he was sure that it was for me," Goldberg said. "I have to thank Patrick Swayze who is a stand-up guy and went to [Paramount] and said, 'I want to do it with her.'"

We may never see another film like Ghost, a supernatural ghost romance that manages to incorporate both psychic abilities and corrupt banking practices. That unique blend was perfect for its early '90s era, and turned the film into a juggernaut so widely known that it's been referenced in everything from Friends to Family Guy.

In an appropriate closing of the circle, Ghost even got the ZAZ treatment in 1991's Naked Gun sequel, The Smell of Fear. While Jerry Zucker didn't return for the production, director and cowriter David Zucker had stars Leslie Nielsen and Priscilla Presley parody the pottery scene in a teaser trailer that advertised itself as being from "the brother of the director of Ghost." Talk about sibling rivalry.