1. At the Mountains of MadnessAt the Mountains of Madness would have been based on the famous horror novella of the same name written by H. P. Lovecraft. The story follows a group of explorers in Antarctica who discover the remains of an ancient, alien city, eventually finding that the creatures were once the creators of all life. The explorers also find out that they’re not alone, discovering six-foot tall blind penguins that serve as livestock for something much, much worse.
Director Guillermo del Toro and screenwriter Matthew Robbins wrote a screenplay based on the novella in the mid-2000′s and immediately ran into trouble trying to finance the project due to the dark nature of the story. But in 2010, it seemed like Del Toro had finally gotten the go ahead; it was announced that not only would the film be moving forward starring Tom Cruise and in 3D, but James Cameron would be producing. The above picture is from Del Toro’s personal journal sketches from the film (go here to check out some of Del Toro’s other sketches).
Then, in March 2011, which was only months before Del Toro had believed he was to start filming, Universal refused to greenlight the film due to Del Toro’s insistence that the film be R-rated. Del Toro then tried to shop the film around to other studios without any luck.
However, Del Toro said in January that he’d like to give the film one more shot and that Tom Cruise is still attached. “Once more into the dark abyss. We’re gonna do a big presentation of the project again at the start of the year,” he said.
2. Rendezvous With RamaWritten by Arthur C. Clarke, the writer of 2001, Rendezvous With Rama tells the story of an alien starship that enters the Earth’s solar system and the group of explorers who journey to it in order to discover its secrets.
Actor Morgan Freeman has been the strongest driving force to get a film adaption of Rendezvous With Rama made, and he’s been trying since the early 2000′s. It nearly went into production in 2003 with David Fincher slated to direct, but the production later fell apart, and in 2008, Fincher said, ”It looks like it’s not going to happen. There’s no script and as you know, Morgan Freeman’s not in the best of health right now. We’ve been trying to do it but it’s probably not going to happen.”
However, as recently as 2012, Freeman said that the film is still moving ahead with Fincher in the director’s chair. The only thing they need is a good script.
3. The Dark Tower seriesThe Dark Tower: The Gunslinger is the first book in a series of eight novels by Stephen King, which are often referred to as his magnum opus. The story revolves around the gunslinger Roland Deschain and his pursuit of “the man in black” and his eventual journey to the titular Dark Tower.
Talk of a film adaptation of The Dark Tower started to gain momentum when J.J. Abrams was briefly attached to direct in 2007 before removing himself from the project, calling the adaptation “tricky.” Ron Howard then became attached to the adaptation, along with partner producer Brian Grazer, and the film has seemingly been on the verge of production ever since.
Universal and Howard were supposedly close to a deal at one point before the studio backed out due to Howard’s scope being too ambitious at a time when Universal was trying to cut costs — the very same reason the studio backed out of Del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness. Warner Bros. later came close to a deal before backing out for similar reasons.
Most recently, Howard and Grazer were able to secure funding from Media Rights Capital to produce a single movie based on The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger with Russell Crowe set to star as Roland Deschain. Another option is an offer for funding from a ”mysterious Silicon Valley investor” who has offered to finance the full realization of the project, including three films and multiple TV mini-series which would air between films.
King fans likely have their fingers crossed that it’s the real deal this time.
4. The Tourist The Tourist is a science-fiction screenplay that’s been making the rounds since 1980. Written by Clair Noto, the script initially caught the attention of Quadrophenia director Franc Roddam along with well-known production designer HR Giger. The website io9 describes the film as “a darker, sex-charged Men In Black.” More specifically, it “revealed a secret alien world in Manhattan, including a secret alien club called the Corridor, where various aliens from all over the universe meet, have sex, and commiserate about being stuck on Earth.”
The film began its 30 plus years of development hell at Universal, but was immediately met with creative differences and personality clashes, according to io9. The structure of the script was influenced by the New Wave and director Brian Gibson and writers attempted to revise the script into a more conventional structure. At the same time, HR Giger was brought in fresh off the success of Alien and asked to design the aliens of the Corridor.
When the process stalled, Noto was able to use a rare clause in her contract to shop the script to another studio. It found it’s way to Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope Studio for a brief moment, with director Francis Roddam showing strong interest, but financial issues at Zoetrope caused the project to stall once again. Universal then came back for the screenplay rights and the project simply hit a dead end.
So where is it now? Well, Universal still owns the rights to the script, but it doesn’t appear that the film is any closer to making it to the big screen today than it ever was. As io9 laments in the title to their article on the project, The Tourist might be the greatest sci-fi movie never made.
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