Movies take a lot of time, effort, skill, money, and energy to make at any level whether independent of the massive summer blockbusters. It's almost a miracle that most movies are even finished in the first place. Look at the recently released Black Adam with Dwayne Johnson. That movie took over a decade to finally come to fruition as Dwayne was announced as Black Adam in 2007. It wouldn't be unreasonable if anyone thought the movie would have never been made and officially became a 'what if?'
But Black Adam finally being made seems to almost be in the minority of projects that were in limbo for years. The conceptual production hell that plagues many potential movies. It's fun to think what if some of those movies were ever made? Many of those movies had big titles and names combined that fans were excited about. It just goes to show that even with all the talent and potential, sometimes it just doesn't work out. But some unmade movies maybe deserve a second shot at production. To get the ball running for any potential studio execs, here are five that should have been brought forward in the production process.
Darren Aronofsky's Robocop
Now there are a couple of different Robocop movies that could, should, and would have been made. There is Robocop Returns which originally had Neill Blomkamp attached to direct, which seemed to be going well for a while there as he seemed to be a near-perfect fit for the franchise as he found his reputation in hard sci-fi with movies like District 9 and Elysium.
But the one that would later turn into the Robocop reboot in 2014 is perhaps the biggest squandered potential for a reboot. Darren Aronofsky is one of Hollywood's biggest talents and isn't new to potential movies not going into production. But Aronofsky and Robocop just seem like a wacky combination too good to pass up. A writer/director who is known for highbrow, bizarre dramas that stretch what can be done on film working on a remake of a sci-fi action movie that is soaked in blood and social commentary just seemed to be too good to be true, and it seems like it truly was.
William Gibson's Alien 3
Alien 3 is infamous for its production struggles before its release. From the moment of conceptualization to the final cut, the movie was just riddled with different visions, people fighting for power over the project, and really any other problem a film could have. The movie notoriously had many ideas, stories, writers, directors, and so on. But the most well-known and potentially one of the more interesting talents attached was writer William Gibson.
Gibson is mostly known for being a major reason for the Cyberpunk subgenre existing with his book, Neuromancer, which is a major influence within the genre. It was in the early days of Alien 3's production when he was writing the screenplay for it, but like many other people attached to the movie, he ultimately was no longer part of the movie. The final product doesn't resemble his screenplay really at all and with how the final product turned out, it would've been nice t see how his vision would've looked like. For those who are interested in his take on the troubled threequal, it has been novelized for fan consumption.
Neill Blomkamp's Alien
Yes, another Alien movie. But the franchise is wrought with so much talent and potential, it's difficult not to put another unmade Alien movie on here, this time with someone attached that has already been mentioned.
As mentioned before, Neill Blomkamp has a talent and vision for Science Fiction that not many other big names have in filmmaking. He is as ideal as any studio can get when trying to remake/reboot any sci-fi franchise. He just has a way of bringing the hard sci-fi that has become extremely rare in today's Hollywood, and just adds a modern touch and taste to it to make it relatable to the audience. Although his Alien idea was only at the level of a ten-page treatment and some concept art. It was still exciting at the time to finally be getting a filmmaker in the franchise that knew how to really utilize sci-fi in the modern age.
Edgar Wright's Ant-Man
Contrary to the other movies on this list, this movie was actually made. The only reason it is on this list is due to the filmmaker's change midway through production that would dramatically change the fate of the movie and even its sequels. Some people may remember that before Peyton Reed became the director of the 2015 Ant-Man movie and all subsequent sequels, Edgar Wright was the writer and director of the movie. It was even almost done with so much of it being part of Wright's original movie, he was given a writing credit.
The only reason it makes it on this list however is because although the movie has his name on it, it lacks Edgar Wright's wit and flair that he is famous for. Looking at the movie's reception, it seems it really could have used that flair, and audiences could have potentially gotten a much different-looking Ant-Man series in the MCU.
Guillermo del Toro's At The Mountains of Madness
Guillermo Del Toro is definitely an ambitious filmmaker and widely loved for it. All of his movies are delicate balances of horror, drama, comedy, etc. But Del Toro is a massive horror fan, he is well-read in many horror novels and stories that he sees as dreams to adapt.
One of those writers that Del Toro loves is the enigmatic H.P. Lovecraft. Del Toro wrote. The screenplay adaptation of Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, with James Cameron producing. Those two working on a Lovecraft story alone enough to sell to fans. But obviously, it wasn't for execs and when Ridley Scott's Prometheus was released, the adaptation was deemed too similar to it and was officially shelved. But with Del Toro working with Netflix, maybe it won't be shelved forever.