During his long career, American film director and producer Matt Reeves has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell into development hell, were officially cancelled, or would eventually be completed by a different production team.
On October 6, 2000, it was announced that Reeves was working with ABC and Touchstone Television to develop an hourlong coming-of-age drama set in the 1970s about a family turmoil, told from the perspective of an 11 year old boy. In addition to writing, Reeves was to have also directed if picked up as a pilot by ABC. [1] He later retooled the project as a feature film titled The Invisible Woman, which he was set to direct for GreeneStreet Films in 2008. At that time, the project was described in Variety as a "Hitchcock-style thriller that probes the mind of a former beauty queen who turns to a life of crime to protect her family." Naomi Watts was cast to star, but the production fell apart before shooting could begin. [2] [3] Reeves then pitched The Invisible Woman to Overture Films following the release of Cloverfield , [4] [5] and made further attempts to make it after the releases of Let Me In [6] [7] and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes . [8] In March 2022, Reeves indicated he still hoped to direct The Invisible Woman, stating, "I've been wanting to find my way back to that". [9]
On January 29, 2008, it was announced that Reeves had entered talks with Paramount to direct a sequel to Cloverfield. [3] [6] The sequel was announced again on January 29, 2021, with Joe Barton set to write the screenplay and without the involvement of Reeves; the project was not expected to be shot in the found footage format. [10]
On April 11, 2011, it was announced that Reeves would write and direct a science fiction thriller based on the Ray Nelson short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" for Universal Pictures, with Strike Entertainment's Eric Newman and Marc Abraham producing. The story had previously been adapted as the John Carpenter film They Live (1988). [11] On June 27, 2011, during an interview with Collider , Reeves stated that the project would not be a remake of They Live. [12]
On April 18, 2011, it was announced that Reeves would direct the vampire epic The Passage for Fox 2000 and Scott Free Productions, based on the novel by Justin Cronin and adapted by John Logan. [13] On June 20, it was announced that Jason Keller would write the screenplay for the project. [14] [12] On November 11, 2016, it was announced that the project had been reworked into a potential television series at 20th Century Fox Television, with Fox giving a pilot production commitment and Reeves remaining attached as executive producer and pilot director. [15]
On May 24, 2011, it was announced that Reeves had signed on to direct This Dark Endeavour for Summit Entertainment, a retelling of Frankenstein to be adapted by Jacob Aaron Estes from the novel of the same name by Kenneth Oppel. [16]
On October 15, 2011, it was announced that Reeves would direct a new film based on the classic television series The Twilight Zone for Warner Bros. Pictures, with a screenplay by Jason Rothenberg and Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson producing through Appian Way Productions alongside Michael Ireland. [17] On December 1, it was announced that Anthony Peckham would rewrite the screenplay, with Joby Harold subsequently being hired for rewrites on June 6, 2012. [18] [19] On September 25, 2012, it was announced that Reeves was no longer attached to the project owing to scheduling issues. [20]
On January 10, 2012, it was announced that Reeves and J. J. Abrams of Bad Robot were set to produce Michael Gilio's action film script, with Brad Parker on board to direct for Paramount Pictures. [21]
On May 17, 2012, it was announced that Reeves would produce the thriller Beyond Apollo for director Michael Grodner, with Scott Speedman, Ali Larter, and Bill Pullman starring in the project and production expected to begin in the fall of 2012. [22]
On December 2, 2014, it was announced that Reeves would direct an untitled heist thriller film for 20th Century Fox based on a pitch by Matt Charman, with Tobey Maguire and Matthew Plouffe producing the project through Material Pictures alongside Reeves and Adam Kassan, who had brought the project to Reeves' attention. [23]
On March 3, 2015, it was announced that 20th Century Fox had acquired the science fiction spec script A Shot In The Eye, and had set Reeves to produce the project through his 6th & Idaho company. [24]
On November 30, 2015, it was announced that Reeves' 6th & Idaho would produce Spring Offensive, a female-led political thriller spec script by Matthew McInerny-Lacombe, acquired by 20th Century Fox, with 6th & Idaho developing the project as a directing vehicle for Reeves. [25]
On April 25, 2016, it was announced that Paramount Pictures had acquired an untitled project based on an original pitch by Marlon Smith and Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan, which would be produced by Reeves' 6th & Idaho as a potential directing vehicle for Reeves. [26]
On May 31, 2017, it was announced that Reeves would produce a film adaptation of the Michelle Cuevas book The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole in association with Fox Animation. [27]
Reeves was set to produce a film adaptation of the comic book series Mouse Guard for 20th Century Fox, with Wes Ball signing on to direct in September 2017. [28] Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Andy Serkis, and Idris Elba were set to star in the film alongside Sonoya Mizuno, Samson Kayo, and Jack Whitehall, but the project was cancelled on April 17, 2019, two weeks before it was set to begin production, due to Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox. [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34]
On October 3, 2017, it was announced that Reeves would serve as executive producer for crime drama The Dime, based on the novel by Kathleen Kent and developed for television by showrunners Joe Gayton and Tony Gayton, for Fox and 20th Century Fox Television. [35]
On February 23, 2018, it was announced that Reeves and his 6th & Idaho production company were developing "Life Sentence", a film adaptation of the Matthew Baker short story of the same name, as part of 6th & Idaho's first-look deal with Netflix. [36]
On March 5, 2018, it was announced that Reeves and 6th & Idaho would produce The Epoch Index, based on the novella by Christian Cantrell, for 20th Century Fox, with Brad Peyton directing and Justin Rhodes set to write the screenplay. [37]
On October 4, 2018, it was announced that Reeves' 6th & Idaho would work with Shondaland to adapt the Blake Crouch novel Recursion for Netflix, with the aim of developing a feature film and a television universe. [38]
On September 13, 2019, it was announced that Reeves' 6th & Idaho had acquired the rights to the Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel Way Station (1963) by Clifford D. Simak, and would develop a feature film adaptation with Netflix as part of 6th & Idaho's first-look deal with the company; Reeves would produce the project alongside his 6th & Idaho partners Adam Kassan and Rafi Crohn, Adam Massey and Lincoln Stalmaster. [39]
On July 1, 2020, it was announced that Reeves was producing Clickbait, a television series focusing on the 2016 United States presidential election; Adam Sorin writing the season, Fionn Whitehead was set to star in the series, Mark Molloy would direct and executive produce along with Ann Ruark, Greg Silverman and Paul Shapiro, which received a straight-to-series order from Quibi. [40] The series was never completed until Quibi shut down and is unknown if it would find another distributor. [41]
On July 10, 2020, it was announced that Reeves was developing a companion television series to The Batman focusing on the Gotham City Police Department; Terence Winter was set to serve as showrunner for the series, which received a straight-to-series order from HBO Max. [42] Reeves elaborated on the series on August 22, during the 2020 DC FanDome, stating that it would be a prequel and take place one year prior to The Batman, with the series' protagonist being a corrupt officer in the Gotham City Police Department. [43]
On November 17, it was revealed that Winter had exited the project over creative differences with Reeves and other producers. [44] On January 11, 2021, it was announced that Joe Barton would replace Winter as showrunner for the series. [45] By March 2022, Reeves confirmed that the series was no longer moving forward owing to creative differences with HBO Max, in particular with the protagonist being a corrupt police officer, with a series about Arkham Asylum now being developed instead, with Reeves envisioning the series with a horror tone and comparing Arkham to a haunted house. [46]
On August 6, 2020, Reeves was announced to be developing a television series adapted from Diane Cook's novel The New Wilderness, in association with Warner Bros. Television. [47]
On September 18, 2020, it was announced that Reeves and his 6th & Idaho company would produce an adaptation of the Andy McDermott novel The Hunt for Atlantis for Netflix, with Aaron Berg writing the screenplay and co-producing alongside Reeves, Adam Kassan, and Mike Landry. [48]
On December 21, 2020, it was announced that Netflix had acquired a female-led thriller pitch by screenwriter Sean O'Keefe, with Reeves producing for 6th &Idaho alongside Adam Kassan and Rafi Crohn, O'Keefe, and John Schoenfelder of Addictive Pictures [49]
On January 13, 2021, it was announced that Reeves' 6th & Idaho was developing the science fiction drama series The Future for HBO Max, written by Dan Frey based on his novel The Future Is Yours, under 6th & Idaho's overall deal with Warner Bros. Television; Reeves would executive produce the series alongside Frey, Adam Kassan, Daniel Pipski, Natalie Qasabian and Sev Ohanian, and Aneesh Chaganty, who would also direct the series. [50]
On March 29, 2021, it was announced that Reeves would serve as producer for an English-language remake of the Russian science fiction film Sputnik (2020), together with Village Roadshow Pictures. [51]
On July 23, 2021, it was announced that Reeves and Damon Lindelof would serve among the executive producers for the medical drama series The Human Conditions, created by Oscar Sharp for HBO Max, with Sharp also writing and directing the project. [52]
On February 22, 2022, Reeves was announced as producer of the vampire film Smile for Netflix, with William McGregor directing and co-writing the screenplay alongside Helen Kingston. [53]
On January 19, 2023, it was announced Reeves would direct and executive produce a limited series about Buster Keaton starring Rami Malek, with Ted Cohen writing; the project is expected to be based on the biography Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life by James Curtis. [54]
On July 23, 2010, it was reported that Reeves was one of the final contenders to direct The Wolverine, alongside Tony Scott. [55] [7]
On September 23, 2010, it was revealed that Reeves was one of several directors approached by Warner Bros. and producer Christopher Nolan about directing a reboot of the Superman film series. [56] [7] Zack Snyder was ultimately selected to direct the film, which was eventually titled Man of Steel . [57]
On October 19, 2010, it was reported that Reeves was one of several directors approached to direct the film adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's 2009 novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for Lionsgate, after the departure of David O. Russell. [58] On November 3, it was reported that Reeves had declined the offer. [59]
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