Fear and Loathing with the Blues Brothers?

I watched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas again recently, and afterwards, I went onto IMDb and browsed the trivia section for that film—where I made the following discovery:

During the early stages during the initial development hell to get the film made, Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando were originally considered for the roles of Duke and Gonzo, and Nicholson was attached, but he, and Brando, both grew too old. Afterward, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi were considered for the duo, but that fell apart when Belushi died. John Malkovich was later considered for the role of Duke, but he too grew too old. At one point John Cusack was almost cast, but then Hunter S. Thompson met Johnny Depp, and was convinced no one else could play him. Cusack had previously directed the play version of "Fear and Loathing", with his brother playing Duke.

John Cusack as Hunter Thompson? Not a prayer. John Malkovich? Quite possibly! Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando? If they did a convincing enough job, maybe I'd buy that—though Marlon Brando might have had the right physique to be Dr. Gonzo.

But Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, the original Blues Brothers, as the Raoul Duke/Dr. Gonzo duo??? Now that's just plain shocking! I can't for the life of me picture Dan Aykroyd in either role (though he looks more suited to play Duke), but given that his Ghostbusters co-star Bill Murray had already portrayed Duke in Where the Buffalo Roam, somehow I'd imagine an Aykroyd/Belushi pairing would have been viewed as competition between two major SNL alums (i.e., Murray and Aykroyd)—somewhat reminiscent of William Shatner directing the widely unpopular Star Trek V after Leonard Nimoy's highly successful Star Trek IV.

. . . though somehow I can picture John Belushi in the role of Dr. Gonzo, standing at the hotel counter and menacingly intoning, "This man has a bad heart."