The following is a list of unproduced Francis Lawrence projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American filmmaker Francis Lawrence has worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.
In March 2005, Lawrence was announced to direct a film adaptation of the children's novel Awful End . [1]
On August 1, 2007, Lawrence was announced to direct Snow and the Seven for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was intended to be a Chinese-inspired take on Snow White, in which a British girl is trained by seven Shaolin monks in 19th-century Hong Kong. The film was written by Josh Harmon and Scott Elder, with rewrites by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. Yuen Woo-ping would serve as fight choreographer. [2] In February 2011, Michael Arndt was reported to be providing a new rewrite while John Myhre would be production designer. [3] A few months later, Lawrence left the film, now titled Order of the Seven, and was replaced by Michael Gracey. [4]
On November 13, 2008, Lawrence was announced to direct an untitled film about the Atlanta prison riots for Warner Bros.. Michael De Luca and Mark Bowden were producers. [5]
On January 26, 2009, Warner Bros. Pictures won the bidding rights to a futuristic retelling of the Samson and Delilah story that was written by Scott Silver. The film was entitled Samson and would see Lawrence in charge of directing. [6]
On April 2, 2009, Lawrence was announced to direct a film adaptation of the non-fiction book The World Without Us for 20th Century Fox. The film would be written by Mark Protosevich. [7]
On July 8, 2009, Lawrence was announced to direct a fantasy drama entitled The City That Sailed about a father who lives on the other side of the ocean from his daughter. Will Smith was signed on to star and produce through his Overbrook Entertainment company. The original script was written by Andrew Niccol, with rewrites by Brian Koppelman and David Levien. [8] Lawrence would later be replaced by Shawn Levy in 2013. [9]
On November 23, 2009, Lawrence was reported to direct a film adaptation of the graphic novel In the Small by Michael Hague. The script was written by Laura Harrington. [10]
On March 3, 2010, Lawrence was announced to direct and produce a film about Marco Polo for Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was seen not as a biopic but as a fantasy adventure. [11]
On March 23, 2011, Lawrence was set to direct a biopic of Harry Houdini with Jimmy Miller producing and Columbia Pictures was set to distribute. [12] Scott Frank was later reported to be writing the script. [13] As Max Landis was announced to provide rewrites, Lawrence was reported to have left the film to pursue The Hunger Games franchise. [14]
On September 9, 2011, Lawrence was announced to direct a script written by Misha Green for Paramount Pictures. The film's premise was "a young man who, following a near-death experience, sees into a ghostly afterlife reality that helps him solve a haunting community mystery." [15]
On April 8, 2015, Lawrence was reported hired to direct a feature film adaptation of Homer’s poem The Odyssey with Hugh Jackman set to portray Odysseus, Peter Craig writing the screenplay, and Nina Jacobson producing through Color Force for Lionsgate Films, with the possibility of at least one sequel. [17] The project was ultimately canceled because of the critical and commercial failure of Gods of Egypt and Lawrence's other commitments. [18]
On July 10, 2015, it was announced that Lawrence was set to direct a film adaptation of Eric Jager's 2004 book The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France for Studio 8, with Shaun Grant writing the screenplay. [19] The book was eventually adapted as The Last Duel by director Ridley Scott and screenwriters Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Nicole Holofcener, and released in theatres on October 15, 2021. [20] [21]
On August 20, 2015, Lawrence was set to produce the feature film adaptation of Evan Mandery’s novel Q: A Love Story with Matt Tolmach producing with Erwin Stoff through 3 Arts Entertainment and Pouya Shahbazian through New Leaf Literary and Media possibly for Lionsgate Films. [22]
On September 18, 2015, Lawrence was announced to direct and produce a television series adaptation of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, which had previously been a miniseries and a novel. Mark Gordon and Erwin Stoff would both produce. [23]
On September 18, 2015, Lawrence was announced to direct and produce a television series adaptation of House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure. Mark Gordon and Erwin Stoff would both produce. [23]
On June 9, 2016, Lawrence was considered to direct the feature film adaptation of Battlestar Galactica with Lisa Joy writing the script. [24] In 2018, Lawrence stated that he was still working on it with Joy, and that he wanted to show visual nods to the previous series. [25]
On September 7, 2016, Lawrence and Curtis Gwinn were to develop a horror television series for FX entitled Basilisk. The show's premise was described as "a gritty horror series that follows an atheistic college therapist and her computer-genius patient as they find themselves pulled into a plot to awaken a malevolent, god-like artificial intelligence." [26]
On November 14, 2017, it was announced that Lawrence would direct the World War I film Five Faces of Maria, about the life of soldier Maria Bochkareva and written by Gina Welch, for MakeReady, to be released by Entertainment One and Universal Pictures; Lawrence would also produce the film alongside Erwin Stoff. [27]
On June 11, 2018, Lawrence was set to direct and produce Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue, with Charles Randolph writing the screenplay and David A. Neuman producing the film. [28] It was later announced that Gus Van Sant would direct the film, now titled Killing Gawker. [29]
On November 8, 2021, Lawrence was set to direct the feature film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novel Vulcan's Hammer with Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer producing through New Republic Pictures, Cameron MacConomy through Lawrence's About:Blank and Isa Dick Hackett through Electric Shepherd Productions. [30]
On March 17, 2022, Lawrence was set to direct the feature film adaptation of Kevin J. Anderson & Steven L. Sears’ novel Stalag-X with Joy Wilkinson writing the script and Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer producing through New Republic Pictures and Cameron MacConomy through Lawrence's About:Blank. [31]
On September 15, 2022, it was announced that Lawrence had signed on to direct a biographical film about the ska punk band Sublime for 3000 Pictures from a screenplay by Chris Mundy, with Lawrence's about:blank co-producing alongside Chernin Entertainment, Surfdog/DKM, and KHPS, with surviving band members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh, and Bradley Nowell's widow Troy Nowell and son Jakob Nowell, among the executive producers. [32] On September 19, 2024, Justin Chon was announced as the new director, with Lawrence still involved as executive producer. [33]
Lawrence was rumored to have been offered to direct a remake of Logan's Run . [34]
In October 2010, Lawrence was on the shortlist to direct Gangster Squad , which Ruben Fleischer would eventually direct. [35]
On January 4, 2011, Lawrence was offered to direct the film adaptation of the biographical novel Unbroken , which Angelina Jolie would eventually direct. [36]
David Koepp is an American screenwriter and director. He is the ninth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.3 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical and commercial success in a wide variety of genres: thriller, science fiction, comedy, action, drama, crime, superhero, horror, adventure, and fantasy.
Davis Entertainment is an American independent film and television production company, founded by John Davis in 1984.
Francis Lawrence is an American filmmaker and producer. After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the superhero thriller Constantine (2005) and has since directed the post-apocalyptic horror film I Am Legend (2007), the romantic drama Water for Elephants (2011), four of the five films in The Hunger Games film series, and the spy thriller Red Sparrow (2018).
Destin Yori Daniel Cretton is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the drama films Short Term 12 (2013), The Glass Castle (2017), Just Mercy (2019) as well as the Marvel Studios film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).
Temple Hill Entertainment or Temple Hill Productions is an American film and television production company, established in 2006 by producers Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen. The studio produced the Twilight film series. In 2020, the studio signed a TV deal with Lionsgate.
Andrés Walter Muschietti is an Argentine film director and screenwriter who had his breakthrough with the 2013 film Mama. He gained further recognition for directing both films in the It film series, the 2017 film adaptation of the Stephen King novel and its 2019 sequel, It Chapter Two. In 2023, he directed the DC Extended Universe film The Flash.
Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc. is an American film and television production company founded in 2002 by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who is known for producing the Transformers films.
Vertigo Entertainment is an American film and television production company based in Los Angeles, founded in 2001 by Roy Lee and Doug Davison.
David Ready is an American film producer and production executive, and an EVP at Chernin Entertainment.
The following is a list of unproduced Darren Aronofsky projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Darren Aronofsky has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in "development hell" or were cancelled.
The following is a list of unproduced Chris Columbus projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Chris Columbus has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects, are officially scrapped or linger in "development hell."
The following is a list of unproduced J. J. Abrams projects in roughly chronological order. During a career that has spanned over 30 years, J. J. Abrams has worked on projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction.
The following is a list of unproduced Barry Levinson projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Barry Levinson worked on numerous projects that never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these fell into development hell, were officially cancelled, or would see life under a different production team.
The following is a list of unproduced Ron Howard projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Ron Howard has worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially cancelled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.
The following is a list of unproduced Luca Guadagnino projects in roughly chronological order.
The following is a list of unproduced Doug Liman projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American filmmaker Doug Liman has worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.
The following is a list of unproduced David Ayer projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American filmmaker David Ayer has worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.
The following is a list of unproduced Paul Greengrass projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, British filmmaker Paul Greengrass has worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.