The Film Charlie Sheen Chose Over Karate Kid Is A B-Movie That Wasn't Released Until 2020

There are tons of stories about actors who almost played some major role but didn't because of scheduling conflicts, but few are as truly terrible as Charlie Sheen losing out on playing the lead in "The Karate Kid" because he had already committed to another role, in the low-budget "Jaws" rip-off and horror sequel "Grizzly II: Revenge." Despite having been chosen to play Daniel LaRusso, the role made famous by Ralph Macchio, in "The Karate Kid," Sheen had already signed on to "Grizzly II" and was going to be in Hungary filming that instead. While speaking to Conan O'Brien on his podcast, Sheen revealed that he had actually tried to get out of filming "Grizzly II" because he knew that it wasn't going to amount to anything, and "The Karate Kid" could be a huge hit, but his father, actor Martin Sheen, talked him out of it. 

Apparently, the elder Sheen told his son that it was important to keep his word, and that it would matter more to his career than whatever success he might have had from "The Karate Kid." While that's generally good advice, it's also possibly not true in this instance, since "The Karate Kid" was a massive success. To add insult to injury, not only was "Grizzly II" a total flop, but it wasn't even released until 2020, nearly 40 years after being filmed. At least Sheen had some good company, as both Laura Dern and George Clooney also appeared in "Grizzly II: Revenge," and it was even Clooney's first feature film. All three ended up having extremely successful careers, so maybe being a part of "Grizzly II" wasn't that cursed after all?

On the podcast, Sheen explained that he got the call to start training for "The Karate Kid" right when he was supposed to go to Budapest and film "Grizzly II." When he told his father about "the thing with the bear in Budapest" and explained that "anyone can get eaten by a bear," Martin Sheen wasn't having it, telling his son that his word meant more than a paycheck or big role. "It's not about that," the elder Sheen told his son. "...one big film in this business is not going to carry you as far as, you know, being known as a man of their word."

While Charlie Sheen would unfortunately go on to have some serious issues with productions, even being fired from the hit sitcom "Two and a Half Men," he did listen to his father's advice and kept his word on "Grizzly II." He's in the opening scene with Clooney and Dern, who want to be alone by the campfire for romance, kicking Sheen's character out into the cold. He comes back to their bear-mutilated corpses and then becomes a bear snack himself, which means he has very little screentime in "Grizzly II," but at least it's somewhat memorable since it's the first set of kills. The only other really memorable thing about "Grizzly II" is that it also stars two "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" villains, because despite taking nearly 40 years to release, "Grizzly II: Revenge" is really, really bad. At least Sheen ended up with a bit part in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and was able to kickstart his career, even if he didn't get to be the Karate Kid.