32 Would-Be Movies That Never Saw the Light of Day

These would’ve been welcome additions to our DVD collections
32 Would-Be Movies That Never Saw the Light of Day

As of today, we only have one reality that we know of. It’s fun to think of alternate realities, but when we emerge from that daydream, we’re stuck in this boring one. The boring one that didn’t allow for these scripts to become full-fledged movies. 

How could our one and only reality betray us like that? We really wish we could ditch it for a reality that would allow every movie idea to become a feature film, because we’d really like to see these ones.

Boba Fett

We almost had a Boba Fett standalone movie directed by James Mangold. Mangold is the guy who directed Logan, so his interpretation of Fett would have been pretty interesting - but Disney dropped the movie for The Mandalorian. CRACKED.COM

Robopocalypse

Steven Spielberg almost directed a movie all about a robot apocalypse. ROBOPOCALYPSE DANIEL H. WILSON It was called, well, Robopocalypse, and it was about human survivors in the post-apocalypse desperately fighting a robot army led by an AI. CRACKED.COM

Deathstroke

Joe Manganiello wrote a script for a Deathstroke movie, but it didn't go anywhere. Manganiello himself would have played Deathstroke, and the movie would have been kind of similar to the Jason Bourne franchise. CRACKED.COM

Akira

Taika Waititi was supposed to direct a live-action Akira movie slated for 2021. But before production on the movie even managed to get started, Warner Bros. apparently changed their mind and just pulled the plug on it. CRACKED.COM

The Trench

There was supposed to be a horror-themed Aquaman spinoff called The Trench. It was developed by Aquaman director James Wan, and it was going to be about the creatures that showed up back in Aquaman. CRACKED.COM

Batman Unchained

There was a Batman sequel that Joel Schumacher didn't get to make. It was called Batman Unchained, and it would feature Scarecrow and Harley Quinn (who'd be Jack Nicholson's Joker's daughter) teaming up. CRACKED.COM

Jack and the Giant Beanstalk

We nearly got to see a Disney film version of Jack and the Giant Beanstalk. The movie was called Gigantic, and it was going to be directed by Tangled co-director Nathan Greno, but Disney just changed its mind and scrapped it. CRACKED.COM

X-Force

There was supposed to be a whole trilogy of X-Force movies from Fox. COMICS X-FORCE MENSILE ANNO NUMERO SETTEMBRE LINE 3000 X-FORCE 1994 Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2) was onboard to write and possibly direct, but the idea got ditched so they could just make Deadpool instead. CRACKED.COM

Lego Batman

A Lego Batman sequel was in the works for a while, but sadly got cancelled. R The movie was written by Michael Waldron (Loki) and Dan Harmon, and it was supposed to be kind of similar to The Godfather Part II. CRACKED.COM

Alien

Neill Blomkamp was supposed to direct a fifth Alien movie for a while. It would happen after Aliens, and ignore the other two sequels - but the whole thing was ditched in favor of Ridley Scott's Prometheus. CRACKED.COM

The Amazing Spider-Man 3

Superhero movies we almost got The Amazing Spider-Man 3 The Clone Saga? The third film in The Amazing Spider-Man would've featured Peter Parker using his blood to bring back cloned versions of Gwen Stacy (presumably evil ones). Other ideas for Gwen? Bringing her back as Carnage. CRACKED.COM

Silver Surfer

Superhero movies we almost got Tons of Silver Surfer films Silver Surfer is headed to the silver screen... at some point. They've been attempting to make a film since the '80s, with a spin-off for the 2000s Fantastic Four series considered, as well as one written by J. Michael Straczysnski The MCU is rumored to be making one... with Keanu Reeves. CRACKED.COM

Year One

Superhero movies we almost got Darren Aronofsky's Year One The Black Swan director almost made Year One, a gritty take on Batman, featuring an Alfred who is a mechanic and a homemade Batsuit and Batmobile, looking like something out of The Warriors. CRACKED.COM

Doctor Strange

Superhero movies we almost got Guillermo del Toro and Neil Gaiman's Doctor Strange Gaiman and del Toro Doctor Strange pitched a Doctor Strange movie in 2007, long before Benedict Cumberbatch stepped in. Marvel said no. CRACKED COM

Justice League: Mortal

Superhero movies we almost got George Miller's Justice League: Mortal Before making the hit Mad Max: Fury Road, Miller was in line to make the first Justice League film, called Justice League: Mortal. That was unfortunately ended by the Writers' Guild strike. CRACKED.COM

Plastic Man

Superhero movies we almost g The Wachowskis' Plastic Man (with Keanu Reeves). Plastic Man! From Matrix creators the Wachowski sisters. It would've featured Keanu Reeves in the lead role, and a joke about Plastic Man wanting to kill himself because his urine is no longer biodegradable. CRACKED.COM

Wolverine

Superhero movies w ast got Bob Hoskins as Wolverine Bob Hoskins is the best there is at what he does, but what he does isn't very nice. Chris Claremont, X-Men's most famous writer, pitched a Hoskins- headed X-Men film to James Cameron in the '90s, but it unfortunately never got off the ground. CRACKED.COM

The Fantastic Four

Unreleased movies 4 4 Roger Corman's THE FANTASTIC FOUR The 1994 movie was made in just 21 days on a small budget, but it has become a cult classic because it was made with a lot of passion and stayed true to the original story. It never got released, but it's screened occasionally. CRACKED

Batgirl

Unreleased movies Leslie Grace Michael Keaton BATGIRL Batgirl was canceled by Warner Bros. in August 2020, even though it was already done and had some big names like Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton, and Brendan Fraser. It was the result of a financialshakeup. CRACKED

Hitting the Wall

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM CHEVY CHASE WAS SUPPOSED TO STAR IN HITTING THE WALL, AN SNL-BASED MOVIE. It would be written by SNL writer Tom Davis, and would be about a former SNL writer having a midlife crisis, all done with SNL-style sketches.

Picasso at the Lapin Agile

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM STEVE MARTIN'S PLAY PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILEWAS SUPPOSED TO BECOME A MOVIE. GIE HALL America Martin started working on the adaptation in 2000 (he probably wouldn't have starred in it, though), but the movie never got off the ground.

The Wedding Contract

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM BILL MURRAY AND SIGOURNEY WEAVER WERE SUPPOSED TO STAR IN THE WEDDING CONTRACT. It was an early 2000s film that would be about a Midwestern couple whose son marries a New Jersey mob boss' daughter.

Superman Lives

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM JIM CARREY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SUPERMAN VILLAIN IN TIM BURTON'S MOVIE. Burton's Superman Lives was being worked on in the late '90s, with Carrey as the villain Brainiac (and Nic Cage as Superman), but the movie fizzled out.

Ghostbusters III

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM DAN AYKROYD NEARLY GOT TO PLAY DR. STANTZ AGAIN IN GHOSTBUSTERS III IN THE '90S. It would involve the Ghostbusters visiting a version of Hell that looked a lot like Manhattan, and also of getting a new generation of Ghostbusters onboard.

Amigos

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM TIM ALLEN TRIED TO MAKE A COMEDY WITH GEORGE LOPEZ CALLED AMIGOS IN 2006. Comed The movie would feature Allen and Lopez, both known for playing sitcom dads, as in-laws who have to overcome their differences to raise a grandson together.

Martin Scorsese’s Rat Pack Biopic

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, ADAM SANDLER STARRED IN SCORSESE'S RAT PACK BIOPIC. Sandler was supposed to be Joey Bishop, one of Sinatra's cronies (with John Travolta as Sinatra) - but the movie got put on the back burner when Scorsese went to make Gangs of New York, and never got picked up again.

What Makes Sammy Run?

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM BEN STILLER TRIED TO MAKE WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN? IN THE EARLY 2000S. It's about a spineless nobody making it to the top of Hollywood, so it's not a particularly popular idea among Hollywood types, and Stiller called it the hardest movie in the world to get made.

The Mayor of Castro Street

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM WE ALMOST GOTTO SEE STEVE CARELL AS HARVEY MILK IN THE MAYOR OF CASTRO STREET. OR ND CONT It was a biopic about Milk, but it got shelved when Milk, starring Sean Penn as Harvey, went into production.

Trump vs Wynn

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM DANNY DEVITO WAS ALL SET TO MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT ONE OF TRUMP'S BUSINESS DEALS. Trump vs. Wynn was going to be about Trump fighting casino mogul Steve Wynn about a piece of land in Atlantic City, but he dropped out after finding out that both Trump and Wynn were against the movie.

Agent Double-O-Soul

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM CHRIS TUCKER AND MARIAH CAREY NEARLY STARRED IN AGENT DOUBLE-O-SOULIN THE'90S. AT ORT Tucker would play a spy armed with gadgets, and Carey would be his love interest, but it fizzled out - maybe because Undercover Brother and Austin Powers came out in the meantime, and were a little too similar.

The Long D

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM SETH ROGEN WAS SUPPOSED TO STAR IN THE ROM-COM THE LONG D IN THE 2000S. It was about a high-school couple starting a long-distance relationship while in different colleges, and Rogen, Apatow, and Seth Goldberg wrote it for Rogen to star in-but then they made Pineapple Express, and this got shelved.

A Confederacy of Dunces

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM JOHN BELUSHI COULD HAVE PLAYED THE LEAD IN AN ADAPTATION OFA CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES. Не had agreed to star, and there was a meeting set to finalize the deal - that was scheduled just a day or so after he died.

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