Movies That Never Were (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

Ok, we're 20 posts in and no one has mentioned it yet, so I'll break the ice:

Star Wars: Epsiodes 7, 8, & 9

 

[TheLongshot]

Just search on any information about "Project 880". There is a casting sheet out there, so there is some apparent movement on the project.

Jason

 

[todd s]

Sylvia, was this about a guy from our time who goes back to late 1800's NYC? Something about him waking up in the torch for the Statue of Liberty when it was not assembled and sitting in a park.

 

[Brook K]

Peter, if I remember correctly from my AICN reading days, the ILM/Universal Frankenstein project was to be completly CGI-animated.

I read a blurb in a Cinematheque Ontario Guide that what eventually became Godzilla vs. King Kong started out as a Willis O'Brien project to have King Kong fight Frankenstein (no idea how they would have worked out the proportions).

 

[GARY C]

One I remember (I had the game)...

The Dig - Steven Spielberg

It was originally planned as part of a TV series or a movie.

Minus the Armageddon/Deep Impact feel of the beginning of the story (both made way after The Dig), the rest of the story and discovery on Cocytus was great. Made for a really fun game of exploration, tho' I'm not sure how well that would port over into a movie.

 

[Richard_D_Ramirez]

This is a common misconception, but A.I. Artifical Intelligence is NOT an alien themed movie. All of the characters in the film are from the planet Earth.

Were there any plans for a sequel to Unbreakable, or was this just internet rumor (due mainly to the nature of the ending)?

 

[Ray H]

I believe M. Night Shyamalan (sp?) expressed interest in doing sequels based on the positive fan reaction, but nothing was really planned.

 

[DeeF]

I believe Alfred Hitchcock's first movie in this country was supposed to be Titanic (a version of the disaster). That might have been interesting...

 

[Malcolm R]

Though supposedly in pre-production now, "MEG," based on Steve Alten's novel, has been in limbo since Disney snapped up the rights at publication then never did anything with them. It's now at New Line, tentatively set for Summer 2008 release.

I also thought I read at the time that Universal had a plan/story for "Jaws 5" until "Jaws: The Revenge" became such a fiasco.

Also, they apparently shot/edited footage for "Superman 5" during the production of "Superman 4." Then that film was such a bomb they never proceeded.

 

[JoSAN]

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[BrettGallman]

I read the script for the proposed Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash film, and I think that could have been pretty good. Also, Peter Jackson wrote a script for Nightmare on Elm Street 6 before it was called Freddy's Dead. I think it was called "Freddy Rules," and it was really interesting to me because it tied into Dream Warriors, which happens to be my favorite of the Nightmare series.

And I was going to mention the sequel trilogy, but Mark beat me to it.

 

[Jim_K]

Interesting. Hopefully it'll pop up on DVD sometime in the future so I can check it out.

 

[Andy Sheets]

I have to agree that Cameron's Spider-Man scriptment was pretty horrid. His Peter Parker would have been an irredeemable asshole.

I just remembered that there was a Speed Racer movie in development for a while in the 90's. They wanted Johnny Depp for the part but I guess he turned them down, possibly because the script sucked

 

[TheLongshot]

Funny you mention that, because there is a story that the Wachowski brothers are reportedly working on this. Earlier, apparently, Vince Vaughn pitched to WB, and may be up for the part of Racer X.

All rumor, of course.

http://uk.filmforce.ign.com/articles/711/711081p1.html

Jason

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Another Gilliam opus that never got as far as shooting was The Defective Detective. I snagged a copy of a draft of the script (dated 1993, as I recall), but have never read more than the first few pages, in the doubtless futile hope that the film might still some day get made. I had heard that Nicholas Cage and Bruce Willis both were interested, at one point or another, in playing the eponymous detective.

--Jefferson Morris

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Interesting, I hadn't heard that. I'm reminded of Mahler and his superstitions about writing a ninth symphony.

--Jefferson Morris

 

[Elijah Sullivan]

And the story gets better -- when Jodorowski stepped out, he was replaced by none other than Ridley Scott, who took the pre-production process up very close to actual production. At the last minute, the plug was pulled, but all the principles had already been payed... so the studio gave them the script for Alien and allowed them to use whatever sets and costumes that had already been prepared.

I also would have liked to see Scott direct Tristan & Isolde (which would have been his second film), or his revamped space-age version, Knight. Scott's original version of Kingdom of Heaven was actually a remake of Cecil B. DeMille's The Crusades. If 20th Century Fox greenlights it, he would still like to make it -- as a sequel to Kingdom.

Terrence Malick was scouting locations in 2002 for Gawain and the Green Knight when the budget fell through.

As for Stanley Kubrick... in the '60s he considered directing The Lord of the Rings, but gave up, considering it unfilmable with current technology.

More unrealized Kubrick projects include two WW2 films: Aeryan Papers and The German Lieutenant, the latter of which can be read in the script form on the internet.

Robert Redford was, for the longest time, going to direct and star in an adaptation of Stephen King's novella The Mist.

Frank Darabont was going to remake Farenheit 451 with Mel Gibson.

Apocalypse Now was written for George Lucas to direct. Lucas decided that the story was too clearly a Vietnam moral lesson, and decided to make a less obvious Vietnam picture, instead -- titled Star Wars.

Bryan Singer was going to remake Logan's Run until he postponed the project in favor of Superman Returns and it's sequel. He just recently left the project and the film is officially cancelled.

Darren Aronofski was the original director for Batman Begins. He was also handling the screenwriting duties; when two years passed without him completing a single page of the script, Warner Bros. fired him, Christopher Nolan was signed and, given two years, the film was playing in theaters.

The job of directing Revenge of the Jedi (later retitled) was first offered to David Lynch.

The job of directing The Elephant Man was offered to Terrence Malick -- who recommended that the producer watch a student film called Eraserhead and offer it to that film's director, instead.

Sir David Lean's last film would have been Nostromo.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Alfred Hitchcock's Titanic, (produced by David O. Selznick) has already been mentioned. The opening shot was to be a close-up of a single rivet on the mighty hull. The camera slowly pulls back to reveal the entire ship.

Terry Gilliam's The Watchmen.

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey... shot in 3-strip Cinerama.

Mark, you mentioned Star Wars Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, but not Episodes X, XI, and XII.

How about The Hobbit, animated, starring The Beatles! Paul McCartney as Bilbo, George Harrison as Gandalf, Ringo Starr as one of the dwarves, and John Lennon as Gollum.

 

[TheLongshot]

Add to that David Hayter, Darrin Aronofsky, and Paul Greengrass. Zack Snyder is now the current attached director.

As for Terry Gilliam, you have to add Good Omens to the list.

As for Terry Pratchett, he had signed a deal with Dreamworks Animation to bring The Bromeliad to the big screen, but nothing happened with it.

Jason


Jason