Films that never materialized?

Around 1947 Jean Renoir met a few times with Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo to discuss their starring in a biopic as Napoleon and Josephine.

 

Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League. The film promised at the end of Across The 8th Dimension seemed to be doomed from the beginning. With all the superhero projects out these days, you have to wonder what might have been...

 

In the 1950s John Huston began his long attempt to film Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King. Unfortunately the actors he sought for the leads -- Bogart, Flynn, Gable, Cooper -- gradually died on him.

Around 1964 meetings were held with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, but Huston had so disliked working with Lancaster on The Unforgiven that he dreaded a repeat experience, and the project collapsed.

 

Around 1955 it was reported that William Holden planned to make his directorial debut playing the title role in Elmer Gantry. Supposedly this was one of the reasons he did not do Giant.

But the project ran into immediate censorship problems, and eventually Holden moved on.

 

He kind of did make this move but called it SpaceBalls...it had plenty of Jewish references.

 

Speaking of Arnold, there was a movie that died in envelopment Hell titled King Conan. Arnold to reprise his role as Conan, now King, and the Rock to play his son. That was well over 10 years ago iirc. Now, Arnold is saying it may be made at last-

 

Goldfoot For President, a sequel to Dr. Goldfoot & The Girl Bombs. From what I understand the movie didn't happen because ...Girl Bombs wasn't a success.

 

Brooks was talking about doing Spaceballs II: Fracking the Universe.

 

Dime Box -- Burt Kennedy western w/William Holden and Glenn Ford. Would have used scenes from their teaming in Texas (1941) to show their characters as young men. Cancelled upon Holden's death.

 

In the mid fifties Billy Wilder wanted to make a film with Laurel & Hardy. But Hardy's death ended the project.

A few years later Wilder wanted to do a film with the Marx Brothers, but again death (Chico's) was the big cancellation.

 

“Batman Triumphant” - Due to be the fifth movie in the film series that began with 1989’s “Batman”. The target for release was around 1999. The proposed plot had Scarecrow as a villain, where an attack of a gas he used would have induced Jack Nicholson’s Joker coming back in a hallucination sequence experienced by Bruce Wayne/Batman. This was canceled after the negative reception of 1997’s “Batman and Robin”. The Batman franchise on film was eventually rebooted with 2005’s “Batman Begins”.

“Grease 3” - Planned and cancelled at least twice - Once after “Grease 2” flopped, and again after being announced in the early 2000s. I read that the script for a proposed “Grease 3” was repurposed for Disney’s first “High School Musical”.

 

Noble Rot -- comedy about winemaking to have starred John Belushi

“Noble Rot” (1982; Unproduced)

 

Dudn't know this but I'm glad it fell through because I like ' Lonesome Dove ' just the way it is !

 

Part III of the Shaara Civil War Trilogy, The Last Full Measure, was never made after Ted Turner decided not to provide the necessary financial backing. This was in response to the disappointing box office performance of Gods and Generals.

After The Buddy Holly Story and La Bamba, there were rumors that a Big Bopper biographical film (to be entitled Chantilly Lace) would be forthcoming in the late 1980s/early 1990s, but nothing came of it.

 

the 1971 version with Donald Sutherland is harrowing

 

I was gonna say Foundation but it looks like Apple is making it.

 

Perhaps Citizen Mojo became the Debbie Gibson video...

 

Most notable in my mind is Philip K. Dick's UBIK, which has been bandied around Hollywood for years. Dick himself published a screenplay adaptation of his fantastic sci-fi novel. I'd love to see this get made, but it could never live up to the book. Luc Besson's cult classic, The Fifth Element, takes a lot of inspiration from UBIK, in my opinion, especially in art direction and wardrobe.

 

"20,000 leagues under the sea"

starring brad pitt, and directed by david fincher.



"rendezvous with rama"

starring morgan freeman, and directed by david fincher

 

The Elder

 

That story is very similar to The Batman Arhkam series of video games.

 

This is correct. It was retooled after the Fabs (or rather, Brian Epstein) passed on it with an eye to having Mick Jagger play one of the leads, but alas Orton was murdered before such discussions could get underway.

 

Which was what?

 

Would have been wonderful to see those three together.

 

KISS was going to make a movie to accompany their 1981 album, Music From "The Elder." This never materialized but actor Christopher Makepeace's name/credit is listed in the original liner notes for the vinyl album:

Christopher Makepeace