Ten Films That Never Got Made

Each year, a film gets made and there are steps that go into making one. There is a story that gets turned into a screenplay, a director who has a vision, how much money it would take to make, casting, post-production and release. A lot of time, there a films that prove to be difficult to not be made. I enjoy reading up on films that never got made because I would like to imagine what the finished product would have been. Last December, I bought a book titled "The Greatest Movies You'll Never See" by Simon Braund that I read almost everyday. I highly recommend checking it out since it goes into details on why certain films get made. For this post, I did borrow a lot of information from the book and I would like to personally thank Mr. Simon Braund. (With the exception of number six.) I had a lot of fun writing this and reading up on these.  

Before I go list off my top ten, I just want to mention a few honorable mentions that did not make the final list. The "Casablanca" sequel, "Brazzaville", Steven Spielberg's sci-fi horror "Night Skies", Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis", Tim Burton's "Superman Lives" and David Lean's adaptation of Joseph Conrad's "Nostromo", While I should have added Jerry Lewis' "The Day The Clown Cried", it should be noted that the film has already been shot but Lewis refuses to release the film. 

10. Alejandro Jodrowsky’s Dune

As “El Topo” and “The Holy Mountain” were gaining a cult following, Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodrowsky set his eye on adapting Frank Herbert’s novel, “Dune”, to the big screen. The novel tells the story of a powerful spice that starts a war. After the release of “2001: A Space Odyssey”, science fiction became a hot commodity. Jodrowsky then assembles a team to bring his vision to life. “Dark Star” co-writer, special effects guy and star Dan O’Bannon, French comic book artist Moebius, British artist Chris Foss and Swiss artist H.R. Giger were brought to do the visuals and storyboard. For the lead, Jodrowsky hired his son, Brontis, to play the hero. In addition, Mick Jagger, Salvidor Dali and Orson Welles were up for roles. The soundtrack would have been composed by Pink Floyd.  Jodrowsky’s vision of the film would have been an acid trip without taking it.

You might be wondering why this film never got made? Not only was the budget ballooning up but the film would have been fourteen hours long. Then “Star Wars” comes out, a space opera that was close to Jodrowsky’s vision. Ridley Scott’s “Alien” borrowed O’Bannon’s script and Moebius, Foss and Giger did some of the visuals of the film. I think it is interesting that a film like “Dune” did not get made and yet, many sci-fi films that came after “borrow” from it. There is a documentary, “Jodrowsky’s Dune”, which does answer the question. 

9. To The White Sea

The Coen Brother’s filmography prior to “No Country For Old Men” consisted of films that were loosely based on literary works. “Miller’s Crossing” was inspired by the works of Dashiell Hammett, “The Big Lebowksi” borrowed from Raymond Chandler’s “The Big Sleep” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” referenced Homer’s “The Odyssey”. “To The White Sea” would have been their first adaption. Based on a novel by James Dickey, whose other novel “Deliverance” was turned into a film, the story follows a U.S. Air Force pilot stranded in Japan during WWII. The film would have followed his journey across the war torn country, his violent encounters and the bitter weather.

The film would have had spare dialogue while the Coen’s script added a voice over and flashback that were not in the novel. Even with Brad Pitt set to star, the film was shut down due to budget issues. It would have been shot entirely in Japan and a chunk of the budget would have been on recreating the firebombing of Tokyo. For me, this film would have seen the Coen Brothers trek a new genre but still be their own film.

8. Crusade

 Paul Verhoeven’s American films such as “Robocop”, “Total Recall”, “Basic Instinct” and “Starship Troopers” combined violence, sex and social commentary. After “Instinct”, he was set to team up with Arnold Schwarzenegger in a film about the crusades. Schwarzenegger would have played a thief who gets caught up in the conflict as he goes into battle.

The screenplay was written “The Wild Bunch” co-writer Walon Green. The script itself has been described as both epic and shockingly violent. The Catholic Church would have been depicted as corrupt, the knights would have been seen as psychopaths and the depictions of both Muslim and Jews would have been sympathetic. With a budget of between $100-$130 million dollars, the film was all set to be shot in Spain. While at a studio meeting to discuss the budget, Verhoeven got angry and went on a tirade after being told if there was any guarantee on the budget going up. Schwarzenegger was even present at the meeting and had this to say, “I kept kicking Verhoeven under the table and trying to tell him to shut up while we’re ahead.” I am a fan of Verhoeven and I try to picture what his version of medieval times would have been. Plus, it would have been great to see Schwarzenegger do his one liners in a different time period.

7. Gemini Man

 Here is the premise of the film: An aging hit man, considered to be the best in the world, is getting to settle down. The Orwellian type government then decides to eliminate him by sending a younger clone to kill him. A game of cat and mouse begins as they try to eliminate ne another.

That is the coolest premise I have heard for a film. It even got the attention of Hollywood producers and studio heads. This is thanks in no part to Darren Lemke’s script. Sean Connery was at the top of list to play both characters. After he passed, Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson were considered. This is right around 2002 and six years before David Fincher perfected the de-aging process in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. The script is still floating around and various directors, including Curtis Hanson and Joe Carnahan, were attached at some point. Carnahan put together a sizzle reel that featured Clint Eastwood, both old and young. If you ask me, I think they should go with someone in their 50’s or early 60’s. While it may sound cliché, Liam Neeson would be a good choice. Denzel Washington perhaps could tackle the role.

6. Yucatan

Twenty five years after famed actor Steve McQueen passed away, two trunks were discovered.  According to the New York Times, they contained sixteen leathered bound notebooks. All of these contained about 17,000 pages for a film project he had wanted to do. The film would have followed a renegade Navy diver salvaging for Mayan treasure in the Yucatan peninsula. He smuggles the treasure via a motorcycle race.

This was discovered in 2005 and being a fan of McQueen, it sounded like a passion project of his. The film has been described as an adventure fused with a heist. Robert Downey Jr is currently at development with the film but he has been so since 2010. If the film does get made though, it would probably be different than McQueen’s silent treatment he was going to give. The artwork above depicts one of the many motorcycle chases that McQueen had a passion for. 

5. Napoleon

After the release of “2001”, Stanley Kubrick settled on making an epic biographical drama on the life and death of Napoleon Bonaparte. Kubrick did an abundance of research, even telling his assistants to go buy all books on Napoleon. He also went on scouting locations to the same places Napoleon’s battles occurred and gaining permission from the Romanian army to use their men as extras.

                                        

Several names were listed to play the emperor; Peter O’Toole, David Hemmings, Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Oscar Werner and Jack Nicholson were on the list.  Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews and Vanessa Redgrave were courted to play Josephine. With large numbers on expensive sets, military uniforms, extras and movie stars, the film would have been expensive. Then two Napoleon themed films were released and did not do well at the box office. As a result, the film was cancelled and Kubrick began working on “A Clockwork Orange” at Warner Brothers. His research did to go to waste as he used it for his 1975 film “Barry Lyndon”. Recently, Steven Spielberg is set to produce an HBO miniseries based on Kubrick’s original screenplay.

4. Kaleidoscope

By the mid 60’s, Alfred Hitchcock suffered from the financial failures of “Marnie” and “Torn Curtain”. His previous films before those, “North by Northwest”, “Psycho” and “The Birds”, were hits. Hitchcock then saw Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Blow Up”, a film about a London Photographer in the swinging 1960’s who may have captured a murder with his camera. The film’s risqué nudity and themes of voyeurism attracted the Master of Suspense. He has said “These Italian directors are a century ahead of me in terms of technique.” It is here that Hitchcock decided to once again re-invent himself.

The film would have told the story of a man who seduces women and murders them. As Hitchcock was busy with the technical aspects, he enlisted writers to help him on the script. His approach would have been owed to the French New Wave and Cinema-Verte. Hitchcock even went on to shoot test footage, which depicted the first murder. Even with a low budget, Universal decided not to green lit the project due to the sex and violence that would be shown. Perhaps the film was just way ahead of its time in 1967. In the next following years, slasher horror films would depict murderers targeting innocent or not so innocent victims. Hitchcock would borrow aspects of the script into his 1972 film “Frenzy” and the world would never see this unmade film.

3. Batman: Year One

  After “Batman and Robin” became a laughing stock, Warner Brothers cancelled the fifth film and decided to start fresh. It was a smart decision to try and adapt Frank Miller’s “Year One” story with telling the Batman origins. Before Christopher Nolan became interested, the studio approached another indie filmmaker in Darren Aronofsky, (Pi and Requiem For a Dream) who also co-wrote the screenplay with Miller. The film would have a different origin story, where Bruce Wayne loses everything after the death of his parents. Alfred would be a black mechanic who takes Wayne in and works at his auto shop. Wayne would have psychological issues like Travis Bickle. Gotham City would still be portrayed as a dangerous place as Wayne roams around in a Lincoln car that becomes the Batmobile. The suit would have been similar to a medieval knight. Jim Gordon would have been portrayed like Dirty Harry.

The tone of the film would have been like the gritty films of the 70’s such as “The French Connection”, “Death Wish” and “Taxi Driver”. Did I mention the film would have had an R rating? WB decided not to move forward since the film would not have been difficult to market. As a Batman fan, the concept sounds both drastic but interesting. I could see it as an Elseworlds tale and perhaps with the success of “Deadpool”, the idea of an R rated Batman film sounds bad ass.

2. Leningrad

Italian maestro Sergio Leone was known for his spaghetti westerns and his last film, “Once Upon a Time in America”, was an epic crime drama. Before he passed away, Leone was keen on making an epic war romance about the Leningrad battle during WWII. The story would have followed a cynical American newsreel camera man covering the war and falling in love with a Russian woman.

Robert De Niro was offered the role of the camera man and shooting was to happen in the Soviet Union. Leone had envisioned the opening of the film as a continuous shot from a musician composing music to Russian snipers lining up and the German tanks soon followed. The film would have had a budget of $100 million dollars and before Terminator 2; this would have been the most expensive film. Sadly, Leone died two days before going to Los Angeles to discuss the budget of a heart attack. I am a fan of films set during WWII and it would have been a spectacle to see Leone tackle a different gene as he did previously. 

    1.   L’Enfer

A hotel owner, Marcel, begins to grow jealous of his young wife hanging out with the local townspeople, including the handsome mechanic. Soon, he begins to have nightmares that consume him. The film would have been shot in black and white while the nightmare sequences would have been in a hyper stylized color.

For me, this is the film I would have love to see in it’s entirely as it would have been a masterpiece. Henri-Georges Clouzot made classics such as The Wages of Fear and Diabolique but took a break when his wife passed away. Plus, French cinema in the 1960’s saw the New Wave with films being made n the fly versus crafting the story. Clouzot was soon plagued by nightmares which formed the basis for this project. Columbia Pictures agreed to finance his film, a rare deal for an American studio. Clouzot then began to shoot test footage, where he experimented with colors and shots. He also tested the sound as it would have played a role in the film. The photo shown above has lead actress Romy Schneider in weird color scheme that would have invoke a nightmare. Then about halfway into shooting the film, the director suffered a heart attack and did not return to finish the film. If interested, there is a documentary, “L’Enfer d’Henri-Georges Clouzot”, by Serge Bromberg that both talks about the making of the film and pieces of what the finished film would have looked like. In a way, it is the closest thing anyone would get at watching Clouzot’s unfinished work.