10 Scripts That Sold For Millions But Were Never Made Into Movies
876Is It A Good Thing That These Scripts Never Made It?
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Movies are not cheap investments but they all start with one critical step: the script. The story, direction and tone of the movie are ideally written down on paper long before the cameras are rolling. But sometimes, studios pay top dollar for the rights to a screenplay, only to let them collect dust on the shelf.
The first one that came to mind was Tim Burton’s Superman Lives, which was to star Nicolas Cage as the Man of Steel. Cage actually got involved with the preproduction and stills and video of him in the costume can be found online. In fact, a documentary from the late Jon Schepp dives deep into the troubled production. But that wasn’t the only film to never see the light of day.
What about that Halo movie? Set to be produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Neil Blomkamp, this script was sold for seven digits in the mid 2000s, which was the height of the popularity of the insanely popular XBox video game series. But trouble with the studio and Microsoft made the movie impossible to make. But fans should rest easy, as Halo is coming as a television series on Showtime.
Nottingham was the original script written that would ultimately be transformed into Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood film. But that spec script looked nothing like the final product. Despite Hollywood loving it, Scott seemed to be the only person not in love with it and constantly changed it.
The Ticking Man was a surefire hit that sold for seven digits as well and had all the makings of a blockbuster hit, with Bruce Willis in the lead and acclaimed writers on the story. But the script, despite all the hype and a great marketing campaign, went nowhere. Likewise, scripts for films like Alpha, written by David Benioff, Hell Bent...and Back, Superconducting Supercollider of Sparkle Creek, Wisconsin, The Mark and Bad Dogs all sold for at least two million dollars in the 90s and never went anywhere.
Christopher McQuarrie would split a seven figure deal on Alexander the Great, which at one point had Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman involved, with Martin Scorsese and later on, Baz Lurhmann as the director. But thanks to the misfire that was Oliver Stone’s Alexander film, which was being made at the same time and did not do well at the box office or with critics, McQuarrie’s version came to a screeching halt.
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Written by: Sean Gallagher
Narrated by: CJ
Edited by: Ben Bromley
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