List of development hell films

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The following is a list of movies considered to be in Development hell.

Contents 1 Uncertain production status 1.1 Fatal Frame 1.2 Les Misérables 1.3 Ghostbusters 3 - Hellbent 1.4 Cervantes 1.5 Napoleon 1.6 Metroid 1.7 Neon Genesis Evangelion 1.8 Police Academy 8 1.9 Escape from Earth 1.10 Rendezvous with Rama 1.11 Shattered Glass 1.12 The Six Million Dollar Man 1.13 Tintin 1.14 Tremors 5 1.15 Red Dwarf 1.16 Star Blazers 2 In production 2.1 Artemis Fowl 2.2 Dragonball 2.3 Ender's Game 2.4 Mortal Kombat: Devastation 2.5 Spawn 2 2.6 The X-Files: I Want to Believe 2.7 Jurassic Park IV 3 Sources

[edit] Uncertain production status

[edit] Fatal Frame

A movie for the survival horror video game was announced to be made by John Rogers of DreamWorks SKG in 2002. ^[1] The movie had been slated to start filming in 2006 in Japan, though there has been no such news concerning it as of now. Many fan sites tipped Courtney Webb to play the lead heroine, although she has recently changed talent agencies and has since been led away from the project, Courtney Webb's company said she officially was dropping her interest in pursuing the project ^[2].

[edit] Les Misérables

Although numerous films of the Les Misérables story have been made, no adaptation of the musical has yet been produced. A film adaptation of the musical has been in development, on and off, since the late 1980s. Alan Parker was reported to be attached to the adaptation at an early stage.^[3] In 1992, Cameron Mackintosh announced that the movie would be directed by Bruce Beresford and co-produced by Tri-Star Pictures,^[4] but this project was abandoned some time later. After several years in development hell interest was renewed in late 2005,^[5] though as of 2008, no concrete details have come to light.

[edit] Ghostbusters 3 - Hellbent

Originally mentioned by Dan Aykroyd in the early 1990s, the project has been surrounded by several rumors aroused and was confirmed by Aykroyd several times. Eventually, Dan Aykroyd confirmed that the project, which had two drafts of a script similar to the premise of the series Extreme Ghostbusters was not going to happen, due to Bill Murray not wanting another sequel. In 2007, a Ghostbusters video game was confirmed for a fall 2008 release, with Aykroyd and Harold Ramis contributing the script originally developed for the film Ghostbusters 3, though Aykroyd also mentioned the possibility of a third film, unrelated to this script, being done in CGI. The plot supposedly involves the Ghostbusters fighting ghosts in hell.

[edit] Cervantes

Based on Stephen Marlowe's The Death and Life of Miguel de Cervantes, a fictional autobiography of the famous 16th century Spanish soldier, poet, playwright, and novelist who wrote Don Quixote. The film was originally listed on the Internet Movie Database as scheduled for release in 2008 with an "unknown" status; it has since vanished from the site.

[edit] Napoleon

After the success of 2001, Stanley Kubrick planned a large-scale biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte. He did much research, read books about the French Emperor, and wrote a preliminary screenplay. With assistants, he meticulously created a card-catalogue of the places and deeds of Napoleon's inner circle during its operative years. Kubrick scouted locations, planning to film large portions of the story in the historical places where Napoleon's life occurred.

In notes to his financial backers, preserved in The Kubrick Archives, Kubrick told them he was unsure how his Napoleon film would turn out, but that he expected to create 'the best movie ever made.' Ultimately, the project was cancelled for three reasons: (i) the prohibitive costliness of location filming; (ii) the release, in the West, of Sergei Bondarchuk's epic film version of Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace (1968), and (iii) the commercial failure of Bondarchuk's Napoleon-themed film Waterloo (1970). Stanley Kubrick's screenplay for this film has been published on the Internet. Much of his historical research would influence Barry Lyndon (1975), set in the late eighteenth century, just before Napoleon's wars.

[edit] Metroid

A live-action movie version of the video game series Metroid was reportedly in development by Lion Rock Productions, based around main protagonist Samus Aran, along with her early battles with one of the antagonists, the Mother Brain, and the Metroids. This production was alleged to have an intended release in 2006.^[6] A second attempt was supposedly being made by Hollywood director John Woo.^[7], though there have been no recent updates on any progress made. In an issue of Nintendo Dream Magazine, producer Yoshio Sakamoto stated that there was no plan to begin production of the film.^[8]

[edit] Neon Genesis Evangelion

First announced in May 2003 by ADV Films, the live-action adaption of the Japanese anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion has been not since progressed beyond continued confirmations of the project by ADV and released conceptual art by Weta Workshop Ltd.

[edit] Police Academy 8

Plans were in motion for an eighth Police Academy film to be released in 2007 after a 13 year absence. Says series creator Paul Maslansky: "I felt it was time to start again. I saw that Starsky & Hutch and a number of other revivals were doing really well. Police Academy has such a great history, so I thought, 'Why not?'" ^[9]. Leslie Easterbrook and Marion Ramsey mentioned that filming for the next Police Academy film was due to start shooting in summer 2006 for a release in 2007. The film was shelved (cancelled) in October 2006. Easterbrook went on to mention that there was still hope for a direct-to-DVD sequel. ^[10] The film has not been heard of since then.

[edit] Escape from Earth

This was a proposed second sequel often mentioned by John Carpenter and Kurt Russell in interviews prior to the release of Escape from L.A. The concept was that Earth was the only place left for Plissken to escape. After Escape from L.A. failed to attract much business, the project never materialized. With the upcoming remake of the original movie, a third movie is very doubtful.

According to a March 12, 2007 article in Variety magazine, Gerard Butler was close to signing a deal where he would play Snake Plissken in a remake of Carpenter's movie. Neal Moritz was to produce and Ken Nolan was to write the screenplay which would combine an original story for Plissken with the story from the 1981 movie, although Carpenter has hinted that the film might be a prequel.

An article in the Hollywood Reporter revealed that New Line Cinema has acquired the rights to the film from co-rights holder StudioCanal, who will control the European rights, and Carpenter, who will serve as an executive producer and is quoted as saying:

"Snake is one of my fondest creations. Kurt Russell did an incredible job, and it would be fun to see someone else try."

Russell has recently commented on the remake and his thoughts on the casting of Butler as Plissken:

"I will say that when I was told who was going to play Snake Plissken, my initial reaction was 'Oh, man!' [Russell winces]. I do think that character was quintessentially one thing. And that is, American." Len Wiseman was attached to direct but he dropped out of the project and rumors were that Brett Ratner would helm the film.

Since Ratner has not formally committed to the new project, the identity of the director is as yet unclear. The studio has brought Jonathan Mostow in to rewrite, with an option to direct.

In addition, Gerard Butler has bowed out of his role, claiming "creative differences".

[edit] Rendezvous with Rama

Morgan Freeman has expressed his desire to produce a film adaption based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel Rendezvous with Rama through his production company, Revelations Entertainment. Dealing with difficulties in procuring funding for the movie [1], the film's release date was upgraded in February 2007 to the year 2009. David Fincher is still listed as its director. [2]

[edit] Shattered Glass

A sequel to the 1980 Hazel O'Connor film Breaking Glass was filmed in 2002, to be released alongside the DVD release of the original film. When the DVD was eventually cancelled, the film was put on hold and is still waiting for a release date. According to Hazel's website, she was not asked to appear in the sequel, which was set in the late 1980's when the band is brought back together for a reunion album and tour.

[edit] The Six Million Dollar Man

Originally optioned during the mid-1990s; Kevin Smith being amongst the writers who have submitted treatments. After Jim Carrey became attached to the film, the direction of the film changed to become more comedic and ironic. No finalized script has been reached at this time.

[edit] Tintin

In the 1980s, Steven Spielberg bought the movie rights to The Adventures of Tintin, the internationally renowned Belgian comic book created by Hergé (George Remi). Spielberg intended to make three original scripted films, although Roman Polanski (one of the proposed directors) preferred to make a movie of King Ottokar's Sceptre. Between the autumn of 1984 and the spring of 1986, Spielberg rejected several scripts (among them, a script by E.T. writer Melissa Matheson placing Tintin in Africa against ivory dealers while falling in love with a girl). Spielberg is known to have used some intended Tintin storyboard shots for Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. Christopher Lambert, Henry Thomas, and the pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio are among those having been considered for the titular role. Both Jack Nicholson and Sean Connery were considered for the role of Captain Haddock.

The project had been abandoned in 1988, but in May 2007, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson announced they would be teaming to direct and produce three back-to-back features of Tintin for DreamWorks, produced in full digital 3-D using performance capture technology. The two filmmakers would each direct at least one of the movies; no information is available for which director would helm the third (Kathleen Kennedy would join Spielberg and Jackson as a producer on the three films, which might be released through DreamWorks Animation).^[11] Steven Moffat is writing the screenplay.

[edit] Tremors 5

In 2005, S.S. Wilson reported that a script for a fifth Tremors film had been written, but they were looking for financial backing.^[12]. Also, on the official Stampede Entertainment website, they stated that Universal Studios owned the script written by S.S. Wilson, and as they were no longer interested in the series, Tremors 5 seems very unlikely. ^[13]

[edit] Red Dwarf

See also: Red Dwarf

Since 1999, Doug Naylor has been attempting to make a feature length version of the show. Naylor has written a final draft of the script and flyers began circulating around certain websites. The flyer was genuine and had been distributed by Winchester Films to market the movie overseas. The film is set in the distant future where Homo Sapienoids, a fearsome flesh-machine hybrid race, have taken over the solar system and are wiping out the human race. Spaceships that try to escape Earth are hunted down until only one remains... Red Dwarf.

Naylor had scouted Australia to get an idea of locations and finance costs, with pre-production beginning in 2004 and filming planned for 2005. However finding sufficient funding has been difficult. Naylor explained at a Red Dwarf Dimension Jump convention that the film has been rejected by people stating that they think it's funny, but it's not what they're looking for at the moment. The BBC had also rejected the idea and the British Film Council rejected the film on the grounds that they deemed it as "too commercial".

[edit] Star Blazers

In the mid 1990s, Walt Disney Pictures picked up the rights to make a live action movie based on the 1970s Japanese animated series "Space Battleship Yamato"by Leiji Matsumoto. Ironically planned as a "Rockem Sockem All-American" action film, development was stalled and eventually dropped. American Pie creators Benderspink have announced they had purchased the rights in 2006, but no further production news has occurred since.

[edit] In production

[edit] Artemis Fowl

The novel series by Eoin Colfer has been considered by several major production companies for a film adaptation, with many leading English actors in mind for the major roles, but no real progress was made for several years. Part of the problem was the age constraint of the main character being twelve years old at the time of the first book taking place, and many actors initially considered for the role grew too old to convincingly play the part while the film project languished in pre-production. It was not until 2007 that a director was confirmed and an official release date was set.

[edit] Dragonball

Originally announced to be Dragonball Z live action movie, is now to be a Dragonball live action movie. In March 2002, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the Dragon Ball franchise. There was not much progressed for some time. Then in June 2004, Ben Ramsey, was paid $500,000 to adapt Dragon Ball Z. In 2007, James Wong and Stephen Chow were announced as director and producer respectively, and the project was retitled Dragonball. Wong rewrote the script. Chow was a Dragon Ball fan, citing its "airy and unstrained story (which) leaves much room for creation", but explained he would only serve as producer because he believes that he should only direct stories he had created. 87Eleven, the stunt performance company that worked on The Matrix and 300, is working on the film. Ariel Shaw is the visual effects supervisor. Robert MacLachlan serves as cinematographer. Shooting began on December 3, 2007 at Mexico City.

[edit] Ender's Game

Plans for a movie based on Orson Scott Card's acclaimed science fiction novel have been floating around since 1996, when Card began working with Lynn Hendee and Robert Chartoff of Chartoff Productions to bring it to the screen. It was officially announced in 2002 that Warner Bros. had optioned both Ender's Game and its companion novel Ender's Shadow for a movie that would integrate the story lines of both books, with Hendee as lead producer and Wolfgang Petersen signed to direct. However, progress has stalled since then, with Card and the studio struggling to create a satisfactory script. Several scriptwriters have come and gone, and as of March 2006, Card himself was working on a brand new script not based on any previous drafts. As of July 10, 2007, Ender's Game entered pre-production^[14], but no further information has been released.

[edit] Mortal Kombat: Devastation

The MK3 film has been in development hell for numerous years due to the poor reception of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. To make things more complicated, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, the location where the film was supposed to be shot. Christopher Morrison, the director of MK3, claims that the film is currently in the development stage with Threshold Entertainment, Midway, and a film studio collaborating in writing the script. The film will also be a reboot to the film franchise.

[edit] Spawn 2

In 2001, Michael Jai White discussed Spawn 2 in an interview on IGN, which he stated his intention to begin working on it soon.^[15] Then in 2002, Columbia Pictures got the rights to distribute the second Spawn film.^[16] Producer Don Murphy revealed. "We turned in the draft to Sony. Sony's a mess. I'm not sure where that stands at the moment. If Sony doesn't make it, I'm sure that New Line would want their franchise back."^[17] In a 2006 interview with Todd McFarlane, he reiterated that Spawn 2 had been stuck in "development hell" due to Don Murphy being busy with other movies and his own plans for the Torso movie, the new Spawn animation, and the live-action Spawn film he plans to finance, write, produce and direct himself by the end of the year (on a budget of less than $10 million). He is currently trying to get an R-rating and a release for the film in late 2008.^[18][19]

[edit] The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Writer/Director Chris Carter has expressed interest in making this film shortly after the hit television series ended. However it took six years to finally be approved for filming. Rumors during those six years were swirling, with both Chris Carter and the movie's stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson telling various magazines that the film was being filmed. Finally in late 2007 the film began production. With a budget half that of the first film, the movie has a July 2008 release.

[edit] Jurassic Park IV

In June 2002, director Steven Spielberg told Starlog magazine that he planned to produce Jurassic Park IV, and director Joe Johnston, who helmed Jurassic Park III, would direct it.^[20] In November 2002, screenwriter William Monahan was hired to write,^[21] with the film's release slated for summer 2005.^[22] In July 2003, Monahan completed the first draft, with the story no longer set in the jungle.^[23] Actor Sam Neill said he was returning as Dr. Alan Grant, with filming expected to begin in 2004 in California and Hawaii.^[24] In September 2004, screenwriter John Sayles was re-writing the script, with the film re-slated for a winter 2005 release.^[25] His second draft focused on the new character Nick Harris, who returns to Isla Nublar, the location of the first film, and retrieves Dennis Nedry's can of DNA. He is captured by the Grendel corporation, which now owns InGen, and he is hired to train five genetically modified Deinonychus as mercenaries.^[26]

In October 2004, paleontologist Jack Horner said he would return as technical adviser for the fourth film as he had done for previous Jurassic Park films.^[27] By April 2005, special effects artist Stan Winston explained that the delay in production was due to repeated revisions of the film's script, none of which satisfied Spielberg. According to Winston, "He felt neither of [the drafts] balanced the science and adventure elements effectively. It's a tough compromise to reach, as too much science will make the movie too talky, but too much adventure will make it seem hollow."^[28] In February 2006, producer Frank Marshall said filming would begin in 2007 for a 2008 release.^[29] In March 2007, Sam Neill said he was not asked to reprise his role as Dr. Alan Grant,^[30] while Laura Dern was asked to return for the new film, which Universal still wanted to release by 2008.^[31] Director Joe Johnston was also reported not to be directing the film.^[32] Richard Attenborough has been contacted about reprising the role of John Hammond.^[33] The film was delayed to Summer 2009, because of the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike.^[34]

[edit] Sources