The following is a list of unproduced Joel Schumacher projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, film director Joel Schumacher 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 mid-1979, Schumacher was hired by Universal Pictures to write and direct A Chorus Line , after having just completed his first feature, The Incredible Shrinking Woman . To market the film, Universal enlisted producer Allan Carr, who hired Marvin Hamlisch to write several new songs for the film and asked John Travolta to play the character Zack. Creative differences with Carr soon arose when Schumacher wanted the film to feature extensive flashbacks of the dancers as children, to dramatize the moment when they heard the call of the stage. In early 1980, Universal sold the rights to A Chorus Line to PolyGram Pictures, and the film was made by Richard Attenborough. [1]
On October 1, 1991, Schumacher dropped out as director of the movie adaptation of Randy Shilts's novel And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic , which became the 1993 film of the same name by Roger Spottiswoode. [2] [3]
On November 5, 1995, Schumacher was hired to direct the movie adaptation of Daniel Keyes's novel The Minds of Billy Milligan entitled The Crowded Room. Eventually Schumacher left the project due to his commitment to Batman & Robin . [4] On October 13, 2004, Schumacher was again attached as director of the project but soon left. An anthology television series of the novel aired on Apple TV+ in 2023, written by Akiva Goldsman who had written both Batman Forever and Batman & Robin for Schumacher. [5] [6]
On January 9, 1997, Schumacher was set to direct the film adaptation of Ben Elton's novel Popcorn , which didn't materialize. [7]
On July 23, 1997, Schumacher dropped out as director of the film adaptation of John Grisham's novel The Runaway Jury , which became the film of the same name by Gary Fleder. [8]
On February 24, 1999, Schumacher was hired to direct the remake of Gilles Mimouni's 1996 film The Apartment for Paramount Pictures and Lakeshore Entertainment. Schumacher later left the project, which became Wicker Park , directed by Paul McGuigan. [9]
On February 24, 2002, Schumacher was hired by Francis Ford Coppola to adapt Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road with Billy Crudup as Sal Paradise and Colin Farrell as Dean Moriarty. Walter Salles ultimately directed the 2012 adaptation. [10] [11]
On September 27, 2002, Schumacher was attached to remake A Star Is Born , with Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez attached to play the leads for Warner Bros. [12] Bradley Cooper would later direct a separate production of a fourth remake in 2018.
On April 17, 2007, Schumacher was attached to direct Kurt Sutter's supernatural urban crime drama Inland Saints for Paramount Pictures. [13] On November 17, 2008, Mark Swift and Damian Shannon was attached to rewrite Inland Saints to reflect Schumacher's post-apocalyptic, action horror direction for the film. [14] There were no further developments since then.
On July 25, 2007, Schumacher was in talks to direct an American remake of Johnnie To's action crime thriller Breaking News for Paramount Vantage. [15]
On April 25, 2011, Schumacher was attached to direct Richard D'Ovidio's suspense thriller The Hive for Troika Pictures, which eventually became Brad Anderson's The Call . [16]
On June 27, 2011, Schumacher was in talks to direct the pilot of Adam Mazer's television adaptation of the Susanna Moore novel The Big Girls for HBO, which didn't materialize. [17]
On October 13, 2011, Schumacher opened up about rejecting offers to direct sequels to his films St. Elmo's Fire , The Lost Boys and Flatliners , with the latter being the only materialized project, albeit without the involvement of Schumacher. [18]
Batman & Robin is a 1997 American superhero film based on the DC Comics characters Batman and Robin by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. It is the fourth and final installment of Warner Bros.'s initial Batman film series, a sequel to Batman Forever and the only film in the series made without the involvement of Tim Burton in any capacity. Directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Akiva Goldsman, it stars George Clooney as Bruce Wayne / Batman, replacing Val Kilmer, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze, and Chris O'Donnell reprising his role as Dick Grayson / Robin, alongside Uma Thurman and Alicia Silverstone. The film follows the eponymous characters as they attempt to prevent Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from taking over the world, while at the same time struggling to keep their partnership together.
Batman Forever is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The third installment of Warner Bros.' initial Batman film series, it is a sequel to Batman Returns starring Val Kilmer, replacing Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman, alongside Jim Carrey, Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman, and Chris O'Donnell, while Michael Gough, and Pat Hingle reprise their roles. The film's story focuses on Batman trying to stop Two-Face and the Riddler in their scheme to extract information from all the minds in Gotham City while adopting an orphaned acrobat named Dick Grayson—who becomes his sidekick, Robin—and developing feelings for psychologist Dr. Chase Meridian.
Akiva Goldsman is an American filmmaker. He is known for making motion pictures and adaptations of popular novels.
The Batman franchise, based on the fictional superhero Batman who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, has seen the release of various films. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the character first starred in two serial films in the 1940s: Batman and Batman and Robin. The character also appeared in the 1966 film Batman, which was a feature film adaptation of the 1960s Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, who also starred in the film. Toward the end of the 1980s, the Warner Bros. studio began producing a series of feature films starring Batman, beginning with the 1989 film Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton. Burton and Keaton returned for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, and in 1995, Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever with Val Kilmer as Batman. Schumacher also directed the 1997 sequel Batman & Robin, which starred George Clooney. Batman & Robin was poorly received by both critics and fans, leading to the cancellation of Batman Unchained.
Matt Reeves is an American filmmaker who first gained recognition for the WB drama series Felicity (1998–2002), which he co-created with J. J. Abrams. Reeves came to widespread attention for directing the hit monster film Cloverfield (2008). He also directed the vampire drama Let Me In (2010), and the critically acclaimed science fiction sequels Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). He directed the superhero film The Batman (2022), which stars Robert Pattinson as the title character.
The following is a list of unproduced Tim Burton projects, in roughly chronological order. During a career that has spanned over 30 years, Tim Burton has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction.
Andrés Walter Muschietti is an Argentine film director and screenwriter who achieved wide recognition 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 sequel, It Chapter Two. In 2023, he directed the DC Extended Universe film The Flash.
Christina Hodson is an English screenwriter. She is best known for writing the films Bumblebee (2018), Birds of Prey (2020), and The Flash (2023). Her film Shut In (2016) appeared on the 2012 edition of the Black List, an annual list of Hollywood's best unproduced screenplays, but its resulting film was critically panned; two more of her screenplays remain on the Black List.
The following is a list of unproduced James Cameron projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, Canadian film director James Cameron 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 or are officially cancelled.
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."
Without Remorse is a 2021 American action thriller film based on the 1993 novel of the same name by Tom Clancy. It is directed by Stefano Sollima and written by Taylor Sheridan and Will Staples, and stars Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Luke Mitchell, Jack Kesy, Brett Gelman, Lauren London, Colman Domingo and Guy Pearce. The plot follows John Kelly, a U.S. Navy SEAL who sets out on a path of revenge after his pregnant wife and unit members are killed by Russian hitmen.
The following is a list of unproduced Michael Bay projects in roughly chronological order. During his career, American film director and producer Michael Bay 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 are officially canceled.
The following is a list of unproduced David Gordon Green projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director David Gordon Green 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.
The following is a list of unproduced David Fincher projects in roughly chronological order. During his career, American film director David Fincher 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, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.
The following is a list of unproduced Wes Craven projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Wes Craven 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 Tony Scott projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, English film director Tony Scott had 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.
The following is a list of unproduced Mike Nichols projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American filmmaker Mike Nichols 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 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.