James Gunn's unrealized projects

During his long career, American film director James Gunn has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled. ^{[1] [2]}

1990s

• Gilligan's Island: In the late 1990s, Gunn and Charlie Kaufman attempted to make a film adaptation of the 1960s television series Gilligan's Island , but as a cannibal film. Although the project was supported by Warner Bros., the film was never made because Sherwood Schwartz, who created the show, disapproved. ^{[3] [4] [5]}
• Silver Surfer: In 1999, an executive from 20th Century Fox offered to hire Gunn to write and direct a film about the Marvel Comics superhero Silver Surfer. ^[1]
• Spy vs. Spy: Also in 1999, Gunn wrote an unproduced screenplay adaptation of Spy vs. Spy . According to Gunn, Jay Roach was to have directed and Nicolas Cage and Eddie Murphy were to have starred. ^{[6] [7]}

2000s

• Plastic Man: While much is not known about this project or how far it got, Gunn pitched a basic idea back in the early 2000s where Matthew Lillard would have starred as the titular, wise cracking hero. ^[8]
• The Newlyweds: In a 2002 interview with IGN, Gunn revealed that one of his next projects was a script called The Newlyweds for Warner Bros., ^[9] which ultimately was not produced.
• Pure stage musical: Gunn also revealed that he and Tromeo and Juliet composer Willie Wisely were working on a stage musical called Pure. Gunn described said project as "a love story revolving around a guy who kills and tortures people because he thinks it helps him write and draw better children's books." ^[9]
• Scooby-Doo 3: Gunn was to have helmed Scooby-Doo 3, which would have been the third film of Scooby-Doo (2002). However, due to the critical and financial failure of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), Warner Bros. cancelled the project. ^[2]
• Creature from the Black Lagoon remake: In 2004, Gunn pitched to Universal Pictures his screenplay that was intended to be a remake of the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon , but the studio turned down the pitch. ^[2]
• Untitled Satan film: While promoting his film Slither (2006), Gunn revealed to IGN that he was in the process of writing a "much darker" movie about Satan. "I feel good about it," he said of the project at the time. "I think it's something special. [Slither] is really a call back to the '80s films and I think what I'm doing now, it's kind of its own thing." ^[10]
• Pets: In 2007, it was reported that Gunn was to write and direct a comedy film for New Regency titled Pets, with Ben Stiller serving as one of the producers. ^{[1] [11]} Gunn left the project due to creative differences. ^{[1] [12]}
• The Belko Experiment:
  Main article: The Belko Experiment § Production

2010s

• Thunderbolts:
  Main article: Thunderbolts* § Development
• It's Alive remake: Larry Cohen said in a 2017 interview that Gunn had approached him for permission to make a remake of his 1974 film It's Alive . According to Cohen, Gunn "couldn't raise enough money to buy the rights. I'm sorry today I didn't give them to him." ^[13]
• Starsky & Hutch TV continuation: On August 31, 2017, Gunn was set to direct and co-write a dramatic continuation of Starsky & Hutch with his brother Brian & cousin Mark Gunn as co-writers for Prime Video. ^[14] On July 24, 2018, an Amazon Studios spokesperson revealed on Yahoo! Finance that the series was cancelled months before Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 . ^[15]
• Ravagers TV spinoff: In August 2017, Gunn said that he was in talks with Marvel Studios to make a Ravagers spinoff series. ^{[16] [17]}
• Untitled Drax and Mantis spinoff film: In September 2017, Gunn said he would continue to work with Marvel Studios on projects that use the Guardians of the Galaxy. ^[18] In 2021, actor Dave Bautista revealed that a film that Gunn "really wanted to do [was] a Drax and Mantis film". However, no follow-up was heard from the studio, so the idea was likely scrapped. ^[19] These characters did get to later be featured in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special .
• Untitled Batman film: During pre-production of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 , Warner Bros. approached Gunn to make a Batman film for the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). However, Gunn turned down the chance due to his focus on the third Guardians of the Galaxy film. After he was briefly fired from the project in 2018, Warner would offer him a Superman film (which according to him, if they had come up to him then with directing Batman, he would have said affirmatively), but Gunn ended up choosing to do a Suicide Squad film, which ended up becoming The Suicide Squad . Once president of DC Studios and one of the architects of the DC Universe (DCU), Gunn will produce the Batman film The Brave and the Bold . ^[20]

2020s

• The Suicide Squad sequel: In 2021, Gunn stated that he had ideas for a potential sequel to his film The Suicide Squad . ^[21] In 2022, Gunn said there had been discussions about a sequel and he was considering it for his next feature film but his focus was on television for the foreseeable future following his positive experience making Peacemaker . ^[22] The following June, Gunn said there would not be a sequel. ^[23]
• The Authority: TheWrap reported that Gunn was originally set to direct the DCU film The Authority , a superhero film based on the WildStorm comics featuring the eponymous team. ^[24]

References

1. Accardo, Brian (September 23, 2023). "Every Unmade James Gunn Movie We'll Never See". MovieWeb. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
2. Williams, Jordan (September 19, 2021). "Every Unmade James Gunn Movie (Including Scooby-Doo 3)". Screen Rant. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
3. Lattanzio, Ryan (October 14, 2021). "James Gunn and Charlie Kaufman Almost Made a Cannibalistic 'Gilligan's Island' Movie". IndieWire. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
4. Plant, Logan (October 13, 2021). "James Gunn Tried To Make a Gilligan's Island Reboot With Cannibals". IGN. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
5. Zinski, Dan (October 13, 2021). "James Gunn Pitched A Gilligan's Island Movie With A Cannibal Twist". Screen Rant. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
6. Patterson, Adreon (May 1, 2020). "James Gunn Shares Details About His Insane Spy Vs. Spy Script". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
7. Fisher, Kieran (May 1, 2020). "The History of the 'Spy vs Spy' Movie". Film School Rejects. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
8. Kesh, Jonathan (March 11, 2023). "James Gunn Nearly Cast Matthew Lillard as DC's Plastic Man in the 2000s". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved August 15, 2024.
9. "10 Questions: James Gunn". IGN . June 17, 2002. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
10. Otto, Jeff (March 29, 2006). "IGN Interviews James Gunn". IGN . Retrieved October 15, 2024.
11. Orange, B. Alan (September 21, 2007). "James Gunn Has Pets". MovieWeb. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
12. Riley, Jenelle (August 1, 2014). "Q&A: 'Guardians' Director Calls New, Big Budget Career in Hollywood 'Orgasmic'". Variety. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
13. Winfrey, Graham (May 4, 2017). "Larry Cohen, a Horror Hero For James Wan and Eli Roth, Reveals Why He Doesn't Watch Scary Movies and Hates Remakes". IndieWire. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
14. Goldberg, Lesley (August 31, 2017). "James Gunn's 'Starsky and Hutch' TV Reboot Lands at Amazon". The Hollywood Reporter . Penske Media Corporation . Retrieved October 23, 2023.
15. Roberts, Daniel (July 24, 2018). "Exclusive: Amazon says James Gunn 'Starsky and Hutch' reboot is off". Yahoo! . Retrieved October 23, 2023.
16. Foutch, Haleigh (August 31, 2017). "James Gunn Talks 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' Filming Plans, Title, and More". Collider . Retrieved October 23, 2023.
17. Gribben, Sean (August 7, 2021). "James Gunn Has Pitched a GOTG TV Spinoff Starring the Ravagers". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
18. Holmes, Adam (September 21, 2017). "How James Gunn Feels About A Possible Guardians of the Galaxy 4". CinemaBlend . Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
19. Sandwell, Ian (May 5, 2021). "Marvel's Dave Bautista addresses Drax's future after Guardians of the Galaxy 3". Digital Spy . Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
20. Hiatt, Brian (June 16, 2025). "'Superman' Director James Gunn: 'You Don't Want Everyone to Root for You'" . Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
21. Collis, Clark (July 12, 2021). "This time it's war: How James Gunn took 'The Suicide Squad' over the top". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
22. Perez, Rodrigo (June 6, 2022). "James Gunn Says He's Involved In Multiple DC Projects Plus A Spinoff Show That "Blends" Characters From 'Peacemaker'". The Playlist. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
23. McPherson, Christopher (June 14, 2023). "James Gunn Gives First 'Peacemaker' Season 2 Update Since Taking Over DC". Collider . Archived from the original on June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
24. Loving, Casey (July 18, 2025). "'Sgt. Rock' Moving Forward Without Luca Guadagnino" . TheWrap . Archived from the original on July 19, 2025. Retrieved July 19, 2025.