55 Planned Films That Never Got Produced For Better Or Worse... Mostly Better

Beyond talking about trailers and critiquing the films those trailers promote, writing for Cinema Blend occasionally includes reporting on a myriad of films that probably won’t ever exist. There is a palpable frustration that comes with seeing anticipated projects get abandoned by seemingly the only filmmakers who could have made the projects work. But it isn’t as if this problem only started in the Internet Age. From Hollywood’s earliest days, the best laid plans of directors and screenwriters have oft gone astray, and the amazing above video from Mental Floss singles out 55 such examples. And while it’s one of the biggest shames imaginable that Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon will never reach cinemas as its director intended, at least we never had to sit through Seriously, Dude, Where’s my Car? We dodged a bullet, people!

With his expected genial charm, John Green lays out some of the most outlandish and egregious films ever conceived, as well as the most incredible. He’s not unveiling any big secrets here, as much of what’s listed here are the directors’ white whales, but it’s still astounding hearing all of them back to back like this. Watch...

Check out a full list of all the films included in the video after the jump... Here's a list of every movie mentioned in the video...

1. Gangs of New York (starring The Clash)2. Star Wars (directed by David Lynch or David Cronenberg)3. Ronnie Rocket (directed by David Lynch)4. Something Got to Give (starring Marilyn Monroe)5. A Conferacy of Dunces (originally to star John Belushi, then John Candy, then Chris Farley)6. Leningrad (directed by Sergio Leone)7. The Little Prince (by Disney)8. The Gremlins (by Disney)9. The Yellow Submarine (by Disney)10. Uncle Stiltskin (by Disney)11. Heart of Darkness (by Orson Welles)12. The Smiler with a Knife (by Orson Welles)13. Don Quixote (by Orson Welles)14. Superman Lives (starring Nic Cage)15. Other Spider-Man films16. Plastic Man17. The Flash18. Green Arrow19. Dazzler20. Silver Surfer21. Batman vs. Godzilla22. Godzilla vs. Frankenstein23. Paradise Lost (starring Bradley Cooper)24. Megalopolis (sci-fi directed by Francis Ford Coppola)25. Dune (1970's version starring Orson Welles)26. Fahrenheit 451 (adapted by Mel Gibson)27. Napoleon (by Kubrick)28. Blood Meridian (by Ridley Scott)29. Heavy Metal (by David Fincher)30. Halo31. Lord of the Rings (starring the Beatles in 1961)32. My Best Friend's Birthday (by Tarantino)33. Uncle Tom's Fairy Tales (starring Richard Pryor)34. The Day the Clown Cried (directed by Jerry Lewis)35. Who Killed Bambi (written by Roger Ebert)36. Howard Hughes Biopic (starring Jim Carrey)37. Edgar Allan Poe (directed by Sly Stallone)38. Sherlock Holmes and the Vengeance of Dracula39. E.T. 2: Nocturnal Fears40. Airplane 341. Gladiator 242. Mrs. Doubtfire 243. Elf 2: Buddy Saves Christmas44. Chinatown45. The Breakfast Club sequel46. Forrest Gump 2: Gump and Co.47. Brazzaville (sequel to Casbalanca)48. Basic Instinct 3 (directed by Sharon stone)49. Seriously Dude, Where's My Car?50. Kill Bill Vol. 351. Twister 3D52. Gremlins 3d53. The Matrix 454. Napoleon Dynamite 255. Beetlejuice 2: Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian

Right off the bat, Green hits upon arguably one of the strangest casting choices I’ve ever heard, with Martin Scorsese wanting the band The Clash, who made the briefest of cameos in The King of Comedy, to star in Gangs of New York. What’s more ridiculous than that? The Beatles starring in Lord of the Rings, that’s what. That’s the kind of idea that I can only stutter about. But what’s even more bizarre than that? The pre-David Lynch version of Dune, as conceived in what sounds like an opium nightmare by Alejandro Jodorowsky, who originally planned to cast the film with artist Salvador Dali and Orson Welles, with music by Pink Floyd and art direction from Chris Foss and H.R. Giger. (Thankfully, we’ll soon get a closer look at this madness with the documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune.)

But it isn’t all about crazy ideas causing projects to implode. Sometimes it’s because someone involved with the project died, as was the case with The Confederacy of Dunces, which lost John Belushi, John Candy and Chris Farley, or the big budgeted Leningrad, whose director Sergio Leone passed before production could begin.

And while no mention was made of Terry Gilliam’s long-gestating Don Quixote adaptation, there is mention of Orson Welles’ version, which was meticulously planned but still unmade. The same goes for David Fincher’s Heavy Metal passion project, which I would love to see one day, as his career began with interesting music videos.

Given the abundance of superhero films currently flooding the market, one might think that no superhero project would ever get trashed, but that was the case with Tim Burton’s Superman Lives, with the terribly miscast Nicolas Cage. (Or maybe it was perfect casting.) The same unfortunately goes for the Wachowski’s planned Plastic Man feature, and the 1965 Godzilla vs. Batman, an idea which makes my brain hurt so good.

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Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.