The Cable Guy won by Columbia Pictures at a price of $1 million. The role of the Cable Guy was originally written for Chris Farley, who turned it down due to scheduling difficulties. Jim Carrey joined the production, receiving a then record $20 million to star. Following Carrey's signing, Columbia hired Judd Apatow to produce. The studio rebuffed Apatow's interest in directing, but accepted his suggestion to invite Ben Stiller, star of his eponymous show on which Apatow had worked. The original screenplay by Lou Holtz, Jr. was a lighter comedy, described by Apatow as "a "What About Bob?" annoying friend movie" where
The Spy Who Loved Me (film) the symptoms of clinical depression in himself. Another troubling aspect of the production was the difficulty in obtaining a director. The producers approached Steven Spielberg, who was in post-production of "Jaws", but ultimately decided against him. The first director attached to the film was Guy Hamilton, who directed the previous three Bond films as well as "Goldfinger", but he left after being offered the opportunity to direct the 1978 film "Superman", although Richard Donner took over the project. Eon Productions later turned to Lewis Gilbert, who had directed the earlier Bond film "You Only Live Twice". With a director finally