Development Hell thread

[sdp]

What are some of your favorite projects that are either stuck in development hell or people keep saying that it's happening but nothing ever happens. This isn't for cancelled projects or those that became something else. Like the cancelled TMNT movies for example.

For me?

Rush Hour 4: They keep getting asked and the actors keep saying "it's going to happen", rinse and repeat every other year

Spawn The Animation: Hasn't been mentioned in a few years but McFalrane said it was pretty much done and was only waiting for

Spawn new movie

Star Wars under world: George Lucas had like 5 seasons worth of scripts (100 episodes) with 400 episodes planned for a star wars live action show set between the trilogies(the Lucas ones of course). the series was only waiting for tech to catch up so they could film cheaper with a more modest budget but it was ready. Lucas didn't care to lose money Clone Wars had a higher budget because of that (which you realize when you get to the Disney CG series that look worse despite coming out years later). It's speculated Disney is using some of those ideas of the scripts for their Disney+ shows but in the meantime i guess it still counts since they do have the scripts.

Gamera reboot: We sometimes get a hint that it's coming only for nothing to come out

Voltron movie: "It's coming" for the past 25 years

The Crow reboot: At this point I don't think I feel confident it'd be any good if it comes out in the next 5 years, better stay in dev hell until the end of this decade

Jonny Quest: A new movie has been in development forever, this is indiana jones and james bond with a kid protagonist, unsure why no one has jumped to try to make it happen. a new show at the very least.

Riddick 4: Vin Diesel owns the IP, he wants to make it, has the power to get it done, this will ikely happen now that Fast and the furious ends.

Akira: This anime adaptation is going to be terrible no matter what, and it's going to come out sooner or later, so might as well get this turd out so we can all hate it.

[NinjaPug]

At the Mountains of Madness from GDT. I hope Netflix eventually throws him the $$$ to make it.

[CyberCubed]

You just stole this thread from ResetEra, didn't you. Except there it was about games.

[Leo656]

Despite the fact that Netflix still swears it's happening "someday", the Masters of the Universe movie probably has spent more time in "development hell" than anything that's being talked about in the modern era, considering it goes all the way back to 1988 when the sequel to the Dolph Lundgren movie was cancelled. Even if you disregard that, a new movie has been perpetually "in development" since around 2003.

Nearly 20 years, countless scripts and multiple different studios later and there's still no significant traction on it. At one point they got so far as casting Noah Centineo (whoever the f*ck that is) to play He-Man, and it allegedly would have started filming last year if the pandemic never happened. But nobody wanted that guy to play He-Man and nothing concrete about the script ever surfaced, so most people are of the opinion we dodged a bullet with its cancellation... or "postponement", officially.

The only things we know for sure are the guy Noah is no longer involved, they started completely over from scratch on a new script (again), and that "The Powers That Be" swear that it's still going to happen, "someday".

Frankly, I don't see it ever getting made, and honestly I'm fine with that. There's like zero chance Hollywood in its current form could make a good MOTU movie. And whatever movie they made, the fanbase would hate it anyway. They're damned either way with that franchise; whether they try to play it straight like the comics or go super-goofy like the original cartoon, you'd have half the audience saying it was perfect and half saying it was garbage. That fanbase is almost as schizophrenic and bipolar as TMNT fans. So not only do I not think they'll ever get that movie made, I'll be kind of relieved if they don't.

Metal Gear Solid is another one, but I think there's actually been some traction on that one fairly recently. That thing might actually get made, although I'm dreading it.

[Coola Yagami]

Really glad they actually made Bill and Ted 3. It was in development hell for years too.

[Andrew NDB]

Tron 3, for sure.

xXx 4. Ugh. I'm not even sure why I keep up on that.

A new Friday the 13th. Though it sounds pretty much dead now, due to that legal stuff.

How shocking is it that there isn't a new Freddy movie or project anywhere in sight?


Star Wars under world: George Lucas had like 5 seasons worth of scripts (100 episodes) with 400 episodes planned for a star wars live action show set between the trilogies(the Lucas ones of course). the series was only waiting for tech to catch up so they could film cheaper with a more modest budget but it was ready. Lucas didn't care to lose money Clone Wars had a higher budget because of that (which you realize when you get to the Disney CG series that look worse despite coming out years later). It's speculated Disney is using some of those ideas of the scripts for their Disney+ shows but in the meantime i guess it still counts since they do have the scripts.

I don't think this even qualifies for "Development Hell." Because there isn't any development happening, on any level. Maybe some "ideas" from it surface in other things, but that's not the same thing.

[Leo656]

How shocking is it that there isn't a new Freddy movie or project anywhere in sight?


Right? The reboot wasn't even that bad, and it made a decent amount of money. Yet this is officially the longest we've ever gone without a Freddy flick, with nothing solid on the horizon either.

It's crazy how all we ever hear about is how "If something makes money, there will be more of it." Yet the Freddy reboot made money but peoples' hatred of it completely killed the franchise.

And let's be honest, while the reboot isn't an amazing movie it's perfectly fine, especially as reboots go. What people were REALLY raging about was simply a new Freddy movie without Robert Englund playing Freddy, and that's f*cking ridiculous. Jackie Earl Haley was an awesome Freddy Krueger, and it's nuts that the entire franchise got flatlined because people did their usual "Only ________ can EVER play ______!" bullsh*t.

[The Deadman]

The Nightmare reboot was f*cking terrible. It didnt need Robert Englund to be good but it needed to stand out on it's own.

Back on topic...im still waiting on Austin Powers 4 and Gremlins 3.

[Andrew NDB]

The Nightmare remake was fine...but not compelling enough for a sequel. Also, didn't justify why they didn't just get Englund back for another go -- it's not like other sequels where actors age out... England's Freddy has a ton of makeup and latex all over him.

They should have either made a semi sequel where years after Freddy's "death," a similar sort of serial killer becomes the "new Freddy." Perhaps the new Freddy could be "coached" by the old Freddy in-movie.

You know, that or a new Englund one. Back to basics. "Every town has an Elm Street!!!" etc..

[Leo656]

The Nightmare reboot was f*cking terrible. It didnt need Robert Englund to be good but it needed to stand out on it's own.


I've seen terrible movies. The Nightmare reboot wasn't one of them. At worst, it didn't fully justify its existence. If there weren't more than a half-dozen other movies with the same title, nobody would think it was "bad" at all. In a vacuum, it's a Perfectly Acceptable Horror Movie. It might not have been a stellar reboot, but it wasn't, in and of itself, a "bad" movie. It's only "bad" if you purposely watch it with a mental checklist of all the reasons the original was better, and I simply don't watch movies that way. If you pretend none of those movies ever existed, it's perfectly fine. Pretty good, even.

I know people swear "It's impossible to pretend those movies never existed" but I do it all the time when I watch remakes, so I think those people have a different idea of the word "impossible" than I do. Comparison is natural but it's also important to take things as they are on their own terms.

Also, Hot Take: The remake is better than at least two of the ones from the original series. Possibly three of them.

The Nightmare remake was fine...but not compelling enough for a sequel. Also, didn't justify why they didn't just get Englund back for another go -- it's not like other sequels where actors age out... England's Freddy has a ton of makeup and latex all over him.

They should have either made a semi sequel where years after Freddy's "death," a similar sort of serial killer becomes the "new Freddy." Perhaps the new Freddy could be "coached" by the old Freddy in-movie.

You know, that or a new Englund one. Back to basics. "Every town has an Elm Street!!!" etc..

Robert Englund openly did not want to play the role in films anymore, and was actively encouraging for them to find a new actor for it. It's very hard to get around that. He's still saying that he hopes they can get it going again with a new Freddy, and that he'd gladly do a cameo in another role but he does not want to do another full-blown Freddy gig ever again.

I'm aware he did a guest spot on The Goldbergs or something as Freddy but that was probably like a single day of work so it doesn't really count.

Guy's getting old, he doesn't wanna do it anymore. That's entirely his prerogative, he had a great run. He endorsed Haley in the role at one point, and I'm sad that he won't get another crack at it. For whatever faults the remake had, Haley as Freddy was pretty good. It's a shame Hollywood prefers to scorch the Earth when they reboot things, because I would definitely pay to see him play the role again.

[Wildcat]

It used to be Ghostbusters 3 for me but that finally got made.

Most long rumored or talked about movies seem to happen eventually even if they go through changes. I’m sure there will be a Gremlins 3 too.

[newfan]

Masters of the Universe, agreed with Leo on the outlook.
Robocop returns.. don't even know if that has been scrapped completely.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I can imagine a lot of movies currently being in development hell becasue of the Coronavirus pandemic.

[ZariusTwo]

Reflecting on a couple of ones from back in the day

Cameron's Avatar was in this category all my childhood...finally coming out in 2009 long after I'd attended college. It's sequels taking so long to come out are also very much this for a whole other generation.

Batman Triumphant...it'd have been interesting to see how the 90s would have handled a theatrical Harley Quinn going up against George Clooney, it's main villain Scarecrow would of course still somewhat co-headline Batman Begins a decade later

[neatoman]

Spider-Man 4, obviously it was canned but a lot recent developments make wonder if it might still happen.

[sdp]

I think both Nightmare on Elm Street & Friday 13th remakes are good tributes
(https://miscrave.com/articles/jason-freddy-remakes/), they give you a taste of what that is. Perhaps not enough to revitalize the franchise but then again I do think those franchises are too much of a certain era and can't be brought back successfully. They just can't be taken seriously in todays era anymore.



I don't think Star Wars Underground even qualifies for "Development Hell." Because there isn't any development happening, on any level. Maybe some "ideas" from it surface in other things, but that's not the same thing.

I wasn't sure if I was breaking my own rules, but to me if Disney hasn't outright cancelled it and we don't have evidence of the scripts being used elsewhere then technically those scripts are still waiting in the disney vault for perhaps to be used at one point? That was my logic. I only hold hope because so much work and money was already put into it that perhaps they won't let it go.

Reflecting on a couple of ones from back in the day

Cameron's Avatar was in this category all my childhood...finally coming out in 2009 long after I'd attended college. It's sequels taking so long to come out are also very much this for a whole other generation.

Batman Triumphant...it'd have been interesting to see how the 90s would have handled a theatrical Harley Quinn going up against George Clooney, it's main villain Scarecrow would of course still somewhat co-headline Batman Begins a decade later
For Avatar that's true but it eventually came out and the sequels are coming out and we have evidence so no longer in development hell unless you mean Avatar 4 and 5.

Batman Triumphant has definitely been cancelled by now so that would not count. This thread is mostly for stuff you're interested in that might be stuck in development hell and who knows if it'll come out.

[ZariusTwo]

I think both Nightmare on Elm Street & Friday 13th remakes are good tributes
(https://miscrave.com/articles/jason-freddy-remakes/), they give you a taste of what that is. Perhaps not enough to revitalize the franchise but then again I do think those franchises are too much of a certain era and can't be brought back successfully. They just can't be taken seriously in todays era anymore.




I wasn't sure if I was breaking my own rules, but to me if Disney hasn't outright cancelled it and we don't have evidence of the scripts being used elsewhere then technically those scripts are still waiting in the disney vault for perhaps to be used at one point? That was my logic. I only hold hope because so much work and money was already put into it that perhaps they won't let it go.


For Avatar that's true but it eventually came out and the sequels are coming out and we have evidence so no longer in development hell unless you mean Avatar 4 and 5.

Batman Triumphant has definitely been cancelled by now so that would not count. This thread is mostly for stuff you're interested in that might be stuck in development hell and who knows if it'll come out.

I couldn't think of any at the moment that hadn't already been said, that's why I reflected on the ones that were in stages of hell when I was younger

[sdp]

Yeah, don't get me wrong, little kid sdp would've loved Batman Triumphant, the original Batman movie timeline is awesome (https://miscrave.com/articles/batman-legacy-anthology/) in its own way. Batman Begins will always be the better movie but still I would've loved batman triumphant.

https://pm1.narvii.com/6365/51a4bfdff25073d0b453560899c8e528af48c92a_hq.jpg

[CyberCubed]

Most of these movies were canceled for a reason. Rush Hour 4 is never going to happen now with Jackie Chan being too old.

[sdp]

So is harrison ford, the Rush Hour movies never had a lot of martial arts or stunts, now that jackie is older it's even a better movie to try since he wouldn't need to do much. Biggest problem is most of the jokes would now be considered inappropriate since they were about race and sex, if they gut that then a lot of the appeal of the chemistry between tucker/jackie is gone which is the glue to the movie.

[CyberCubed]

The new Star Trek 4 has been in development hell since 2016...they've gone through like 5 different directors and pitches and all of them have been abandoned one after another. Eventually it'll get to the point where the actors get too old or Chris Pine just won't want to do another one, and the reboot timeline will be over.

[frank_one]

Wasn't at least one new Alien movie in development at some point?

[Andrew NDB]

Wasn't at least one new Alien movie in development at some point?

Kind of. Scott was going to jump onto Alien: Awakening about 4 weeks after Covenant hit... but Fox pulled the plug on that when nobody liked Covenant.

Blomkamp's movie got pretty far into pre-production before Scott pulled rank at Fox to kill it. Before doing Covenant, which re-killed the franchise.

[Turo602]

I think both Nightmare on Elm Street & Friday 13th remakes are good tributes
(https://miscrave.com/articles/jason-freddy-remakes/), they give you a taste of what that is. Perhaps not enough to revitalize the franchise but then again I do think those franchises are too much of a certain era and can't be brought back successfully. They just can't be taken seriously in todays era anymore.

I don't know, letting Freddy and Jason loose on bright colored haired SJWs and inbred anti-SJWs sounds f*cking entertaining.

[sdp]

Wasn't at least one new Alien movie in development at some point?

I think it's fair to assume that any major franchise has something stuck in development hell at all times. If it was already successful as a franchise that had more than one movie, there will always be someone trying to develop something. Clearly you don't even hear about any of those ideas since it's not really a priority but there has to be some guy who keeps telling people to come up with ideas for X franchise knowing that most of those ideas will never become anything.

[Andrew NDB]

"Robocop Returns" seems pretty firmly in development hell. Blomkamp surfaced as the director of it after Ridley Scott f***ed him out of his Alien movie, only to leave it in a hurry when TPTB wanted to roll on it very quickly and he wanted to do another movie that never happened either in the meantime... and then for TPTB also to not roll on it very quickly after all. Unless Blomkamp was lying. I had a suspicion based on really nothing but, well, suspicion and a couple of articles... that maybe Blomkamp was super keen to do the movie with Peter Weller, then Peter Weller was like "nah!" and then maybe Blomkamp was not so keen to do the movie anymore. Because why bother, at that point?

They announced the new director like a year ago now but still nada after that.

[The Deadman]

"Robocop Returns" seems pretty firmly in development hell. Blomkamp surfaced as the director of it after Ridley Scott f***ed him out of his Alien movie, only to leave it in a hurry when TPTB wanted to roll on it very quickly and he wanted to do another movie that never happened either in the meantime... and then for TPTB also to not roll on it very quickly after all. Unless Blomkamp was lying. I had a suspicion based on really nothing but, well, suspicion and a couple of articles... that maybe Blomkamp was super keen to do the movie with Peter Weller, then Peter Weller was like "nah!" and then maybe Blomkamp was not so keen to do the movie anymore. Because why bother, at that point?

They announced the new director like a year ago now but still nada after that.

Actually Weller said he was in talks to do it
https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/local-arts/calgary-comic-expo-from-robocop-to-italian-art-actor-peter-weller-has-been-a-true-renaissance-man

[Jephael]

The Deadman already mentioned Austin Powers 4, though for me I kind of fear it's never going to happen, especially after the death of Verne Troyer. Can you imagine an Austin Powers film starting with Dr. Evil mourning the loss of Mini-Me? I don't think my poor heart could take it. :tconfuse:

[newfan]

"Robocop Returns" seems pretty firmly in development hell. Blomkamp surfaced as the director of it after Ridley Scott f***ed him out of his Alien movie, only to leave it in a hurry when TPTB wanted to roll on it very quickly and he wanted to do another movie that never happened either in the meantime... and then for TPTB also to not roll on it very quickly after all. Unless Blomkamp was lying. I had a suspicion based on really nothing but, well, suspicion and a couple of articles... that maybe Blomkamp was super keen to do the movie with Peter Weller, then Peter Weller was like "nah!" and then maybe Blomkamp was not so keen to do the movie anymore. Because why bother, at that point?

They announced the new director like a year ago now but still nada after that.

When Blomkamp left I think he said MGM wanted to push the movie out quickly.. yeah.. Ownership has now changed hands too.


On another note, I had forgotten about Austin Powers 4, was that ever more than an announcement?

[sdp]

Well didn't the whole trend of "let's make a sequel to the last good movie of the franchise" end? Studios were jumping on it and were using that Halloween and Mad Max movies as evidence it was what people wanted. But I think it hasn't been as successful so they've stopped. Ghostbusters 4 is likely going to be the make it or break that trend. I've never watched Robocop, maybe I should, I remember the cartoon from the late 90s but not much.

Austin Powers 4 I don't see happening just because of the humor, by the time the current PC wave ends all the actors would be too old and hell even by the time Austin Powers 3 came out it already felt childish to me. Austin Powers only seemed cool and edgy to me when I was 13 which is when the second movie came out.

I definitely think both TMNT movies the CG and live action one are stuck in dev hell. I won't believe they exist until we get actual evidence that they're moving along.

[CyberCubed]

I think some of you are also confusing sequel rumors with development hell. Not every franchise needs endless sequels, they just get speculating from even if there's no intention of making them.

I mean look at Terminator. There's now like 6 Terminator films and we didn't even need half of them. Or most of them. There will always be new Alien movies but they more or less reboot them or soft reboot them each time.

[drgon78]

At The Mountains of Madness would have been awesome...too bad it never got made.

[Andrew NDB]

Actually Weller said he was in talks to do it
https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/local-arts/calgary-comic-expo-from-robocop-to-italian-art-actor-peter-weller-has-been-a-true-renaissance-man

He said he was in talks then, yeah... and that was BEFORE Blomkamp left. Which makes me wonder if the studio was like, "We want to start NEXT MONTH... oh, and we can't afford what Weller is asking." And then Blomkamp gave them a big "no thanks."

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

How about ET II?

[Leo656]

How about ET II?

I don't think that counts. They had a concept, came up with a script, and then immediately decided that the original should be left alone (a wise decision).

As far as I know, that's where any plans or ideas for an ET sequel ended. And that was literally decades ago. I'm not aware of Spielberg or anyone else actively pursuing such a thing past that point.

[sdp]

Anything new in development hell?


Wow, looking at this thread at least my first post...well apparently Rush Hour 4 is still "finally going to happen". The Crow remake did finally come out, i don't know how it is, i'm guessing it was bad I guess i'll watch it one day.

Voltron movie we still get updates from time to time as if it's going to happen. Gamera reboot didn't happen though I guess we did get a cool animated series. Riddick 4 I think was shooting a while back but we know nothing since so it's still in development hell I guess.

[Andrew NDB]

Riddick 4 I think was shooting a while back

Super unclear. It was supposed to be shooting in August of 2024 but... it's not clear that that ever actually happened? And then Vin Diesel started posting fat pictures and hasn't said much at all about it.