Undoubtedly the biggest news story of 2014 so far (unless Apichatpong Weerasethakul replaced J.J. Abrams as director of “Star Wars: Episode VII” in between us writing this and it going live) revolves around Quentin Tarantino‘s “The Hateful Eight.” It was announced as being the director’s next movie, only for the script to apparently leak, reportedly through one of the potential actor’s agents, and that caused Tarantino to announce that he was scrapping the project, at least for the moment. (He’s also suing Gawker for helping disseminate the screenplay).
But for QT, it could have been a lot worse: plenty of other filmmakers have gotten a lot further along the production line — like shooting, or even completing, a movie — before having to abandon ship. So, to put things into perspective, we’ve picked out ten abandoned films by great — or not so great — filmmakers, ones that all got before cameras, but never made it into theaters, at least in the form in which they were intended. Hopefully, it’ll provide us all with something to do while we wait for Mr. Tarantino to get going on his next project…
Take a look below, and let us know any abandoned movies you wish you’d seen, and if you’re favorite isn’t on here, don’t worry — we may do a follow-up post at some point, as there were so many to choose from…
“Nailed”
Who Made It? David O. Russell, working from a script by “Futurama” writer Kristin Gore, and “Axe Cop” duo Dave Jeser and Matthew Silverstein. The project was set to be Russell’s next film after “I Heart Huckabees” when it went before cameras in 2008.
What Was It About? An oddball satire about a waitress who’s shot in the head with a nail, and undergoes a severe personality shift. She travels to Washington to campaign for victims of bizarre injuries, and becomes involved with an unscrupulous congressman. Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal had the lead roles, with James Marsden, Catherine Keener, Kirstie Alley, James Brolin, Paul Reubens and Tracy Morgan also among the cast.
How Far Did It Get? Nearly completed. Almost every scene was shot, except the key one where Biel is shot in the head with a nail (a test screening report notes it was shot and included, but was so poorly rendered, it needed a reshoot). Still, the film recently received an MPAA rating, so that seems to suggest it’s in some kind of viewable form now.
What Happened? Though Russell had something of a bad-boy reputation up to this point (totally turned around now thanks to his awards success), the problems with “Nailed” had very little to do with him — even if James Caan walked off set on the first day, reportedly after quarrelling with Russell on how to choke to death on a cookie in a scene — and a lot to do with the collapse of the film’s financier David Bergstein. Bergstein and his company Capitol Films — behind movies like “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead” and “Spartan” — were backing the $25 million comedy, but filming shut down after two weeks when “cashflow” issues caused problems with payment of the cast and crew. It geared up again, but production was shut down a further three times, normally when the SAG or IATSE unions ordered their members off the set due to non-payment. Bergstein blamed his financial troubles on the financial crash, and the collapse of his hedge-fund investors, though he’s still being chased by debtors, and has a number of lawsuits pending. The last shutdown came only a few days before the movie was due to wrap (hence the film being in some kind of completed state, it seems), but Russell has expressed little interest in returning to complete it himself, saying in 2010: “There was a lot that was going on that I liked, but it was kinda a stillbirth, you know? So when that happens, the whole thing gets kinda weird.” Given the way that Russell’s work has changed in recent years, the chances of him going back seem fairly slim, but with much of the plot revolving around healthcare reform, maybe it was Obamacare that finally put the last nail in the “Nailed” coffin?
“The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”
Who Made It? Terry Gilliam, working from a script co-written with regular collaborator Tony Grisoni (“Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas,” “Tideland,” “Red Riding“). The pair moved on to the project swiftly after the release of “Fear and Loathing.”
What Was It About? It’s a spin on Miguel Cervantes‘ famous novel, about a present-day ad executive who’s magically transported to 17th century Spain, where he replaces Sancho Panza as the right-hand-man to windmill-battling fantasist knight Don Quixote. In the original form, Johnny Depp was to play the time-traveler, with French actor Jean Rochefort as Quixote. Depp’s then girlfriend Vanessa Paradis was also in the cast, as were Miranda Richardson, Christopher Eccleston, Ian Holm, Jonathan Pryce and Bill Paterson.
How Far Did It Get? Gilliam started shooting the fully-financed film in 2000, and got a few days into production before it had to be shut down.
What Happened? Bad stinking luck. As you’ll know from the excellent 2002 documentary detailing the lost project, “Lost In La Mancha,” the film came together (relatively) smoothly, but as soon as production began, it became a catalog of disasters. First, it emerged that the major outdoor location was within earshot of a NATO target practice area, rendering much of the audio unusable. Gilliam pressed on, but the next day, the set was hit by a flash flood, changing the color of the landscape (meaning that earlier shots didn’t match up) and washing away equipment. But worst of all, it soon became apparent that veteran French star Rochefort, who had spent a year learning English to play Quixote, was not a well man: he arrived on set with a prostate infection, and five days in, suffered disastrous back problems, which led to him being flown back to France for an emergency operation. With no sign that Rochefort was ever going to be able to ride a horse again, let alone any time soon, Gilliam and co were forced to shut down and turn the film over to the insurers, who gained the rights to the script when they took over. The director spent much of the next decade trying to buy back the rights to the project, which were tied up in legal battles between the producers and insurers, but Gilliam finally reclaimed the script in 2006, and started moving forward again in 2008, after the completion of the similarly ill-fated “The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus.” Depp, now a global megastar, pulled out, so Ewan McGregor stepped in, and Robert Duvall was cast as Quixote, with shooting planned to get underway in the fall of 2010. But six weeks before that point, key financing collapsed, and a year or two later, Depp started developing a rival project with Disney. Still, there’s always hope: Gilliam recently announced that he’s hoping to shoot the film later this year, and is currently looking for cast, though Duvall recently indicated he’s still attached.