Nonexistent Films (That I Would Like To Have Seen)
The documentary Jodorowsky's Dune has gotten me thinking about movies that could have been but never were. Whether it be a film that just never got made, lost films, films with lost footage, a film that was meant to be by another director, a sequel that never came around or whatever. Each entry in the list is accompanied by a film that makes sense in association. Some of these are movies I really wish existed. Some of these are probably better left the way they are, but would make for an interesting what if?
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- DirectorFrank PavichStarsAlejandro JodorowskyMichel SeydouxH.R. GigerThe story of cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but ultimately doomed film adaptation of the seminal science fiction novel.Alejandro Jodorowsky's adaptation of Dune.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAlejandro JodorowskyBrontis JodorowskyJosé LegarretaA mysterious black-clad gunfighter wanders a mystical Western landscape encountering multiple bizarre characters.Sons of El Topo
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.Seorgie Leone's aspired remake of Gone With The Wind.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.Now this movie is undeniably fantastic, but the director first offered the helm wasn't Francis Ford Coppola. It was Sergio Leone. While it would have been interesting to see Sergio Leone's the Godfather, I'm glad we live in a world with Coppola's Godather and Leone's Once Upon a Time in America.
- DirectorMyroslav SlaboshpytskyiStarsAlexander SkarsgårdDane DeHaanA Siberian tiger attacks encroaching humans in its habitat. A conservationist game warden confronts the supernaturally powerful tiger in a fight only one can survive.Le Tigre, the Jodorowsky's Dune of action movies. It was to be directed by Andrzej Zulawski and starring Dolph Lundgren, it would have been half 80's action classic half arthouse flick.
- DirectorJosé PadilhaStarsJoel KinnamanGary OldmanMichael KeatonIn 2028 Detroit, when Alex Murphy, a loving husband, father and good cop, is critically injured in the line of duty, the multinational conglomerate OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer.RoboCop directed by Darren Arronofsky
- DirectorJonathan MostowStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerNick StahlKristanna LokenA machine from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a man and a woman from an advanced robotic assassin to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack.James Cameron's Terminator 3
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerSharon StoneMichael IronsideWhen a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or is he?I love Paul Verhoven and I absolutely adore this movie. David Cronenberg's interpretation could have been really good.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellSteve BuscemiStacy KeachSnake Plissken is once again called in by the United States government to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are deported.A real sequel to Escape From New York that isn't a self-satire retread of the first film, as well as the third film in John Carpenter's original planned trilogy.
- DirectorRobert ClouseStarsCynthia RothrockRichard NortonKeith CookeA police woman, expert and instructor in martial arts, leaves the city to stay with her dad, sheriff in a town with peace and quiet - or so she thinks. She gets plenty opportunities to show her martial arts skills.The Executioner. A cop movie that was to star Sylvester Stallone Cynthia Rothrock as his partner, to be directed by William Friedkin, produced by Joel Silver and written by Edward Neumeir and Michael Miner.
Hollywood needs more female action heroes. - DirectorJohn WooStarsLeslie CheungChow Yun-FatLung TiA restauranteur teams up with a police officer and his ex-con brother to avenge the death of a friend's daughter.The version of a Better Tomorrow II John Woo originally intended.
- DirectorJames WanStarsVin DieselPaul WalkerDwayne JohnsonDeckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for his comatose brother.I do like the F&F franchise. They can be quite a bit of fun, and especially how they revitalized the Fast and Furious name with Five and Six. I was really looking forward to the insane action nonsense of Seven, until the tragic news of Paul Walker's death. The film is destined to be just an awkward little mess.
RIP - DirectorTony ScottStarsChristian SlaterPatricia ArquetteDennis HopperIn Detroit, a pop-culture nerd steals cocaine from his new wife's pimp and tries to sell it in Hollywood, prompting the mobsters who own the drugs to pursue the couple.Tony Scott was interested in directing Reservoir Dogs, but Tarantino needed that because he could work in that budget, so he gave Scott True Romance. I would like to have seen True Romance as directed by Tarantino, and Reservoir Dogs directed by Scott would have been interesting too.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsWallace FordLeila HyamsOlga BaclanovaA circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.The uncut version of Tod Browning's Freaks.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsLon ChaneyMarceline DayHenry B. WalthallThe abandoned home of a wealthy man who supposedly committed suicide five years earlier is taken over by ghoulish figures - could they be vampires?Tod Browning's lost London After Midnight.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsJanet GaynorMary DuncanCharles MortonFour orphans, raised by an aging clown, becomes a high wire act in a circus.F. W. Murnau's lost 4 Devils
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsAndrew LincolnJon BernthalSarah Wayne CalliesDeputy Sheriff Rick Grimes awakens from a coma, and searches for his family in a world ravaged by the undead.While all in all I'm kinda glad he ended up turning the gig, because the show itself is at best a mediocre zombie soap opera and I'd rather he'd make another Dead movie, George Romero was offered to direct the pilot of the Walking Dead. That could have been interesting. Maybe even awesome.
In fact, kinda wish this show lived up to it's potential. It has great source material, great talent backing it up and it's on a great network. - DirectorPaul W.S. AndersonStarsMilla JovovichMichelle RodriguezRyan McCluskeyA special military unit fights a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer and hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating creatures after a laboratory accident.Again, rather he'd do another Dead movie, but Resident Evil written and directed by George Romero would also have been an interesting viewing.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsJohn AmplasLincoln MaazelChristine ForrestA young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a Pennsylvania small town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges.The lost 2 hour and 45 minute cut of George Romero's Martin.
- DirectorSergio StivalettiStarsRobert HosseinRomina MondelloRiccardo Serventi LonghiIn 1900 Paris, a couple is murdered by a masked man, with a young girl as the only survivor. Twelve years later, a wax museum opens in Rome, attracting people and causing a series of disappearances.The Wax Mask by it's original intended director, Lucio Fulci.
- DirectorFede AlvarezStarsJane LevyShiloh FernandezJessica LucasFive friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods.The Evil Dead remake directed by Chan-Wook Park
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.Whatever film Hitchcock wanted to shoot a scene at Disneyworld in. Walt Disney refused to let him do that because Hitchcock "made that disgusting film Psycho".
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsJoBeth WilliamsHeather O'RourkeCraig T. NelsonA family's home is haunted by a host of demonic ghosts.Did you know Poltergeist and E.T. were supposed to be the same movie originally? Isn't that crazy!?
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHaley Joel OsmentJude LawFrances O'ConnorA highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.Stanley Kubrick's A.I. Artificial Intelligence
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.The Aryan Papers, Stanley Kubrick's Holocaust movie he decided not to make after the release of Schindler's List.
- DirectorRichard DonnerRichard LesterStarsGene HackmanChristopher ReeveMarlon BrandoSuperman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.Superman II completely directed by Richard Donner.
- DirectorBryan SingerStarsBrandon RouthKevin SpaceyKate BosworthSuperman returns to Earth after spending five years in space examining his homeworld Krypton. But he finds things have changed while he was gone, and he must once again prove himself important to the world.Superman Lives written by Kevin Smith.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsHenry CavillAmy AdamsMichael ShannonAn alien child is evacuated from his dying world and sent to Earth to live among humans. His peace is threatened when other survivors of his home planet invade Earth.Superman Lives written by Kevin Smith (and maybe with all the crazy crap Jon Peters wanted).
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsChristian BaleTom HardyAnne HathawayEight years after the Joker's reign of chaos, Batman is coerced out of exile with the assistance of the mysterious Selina Kyle in order to defend Gotham City from the vicious guerrilla terrorist Bane.This movie sucks! I wish Nolan was able to do his original idea for the third Batman movie with Heath Ledger returning as the Joker.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsBen AffleckGal GadotJason MomoaFueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his new-found ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.Justice League that was going to be directed by George Miller until the writer's strike happened.
- DirectorPeyton ReedStarsPaul RuddMichael DouglasCorey StollArmed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, pull off a plan that will save the world.I'm really disappointed Edgar Wright won't be doing this one.
- DirectorMario BavaStarsJohn Phillip LawMarisa MellMichel PiccoliA master thief and his sensual lover pull off heist after heist, all while an envious coalition of cops and gangsters is gunning for them.Mario Bava leaves the movie open ended for a sequel, and then decides not to make one. Why?
- DirectorMario BavaStarsLea LanderGeorge EastmanRiccardo CucciollaFollowing a bungled robbery, three violent criminals take a young woman, a middle-aged man, and a child hostage and force them to drive them outside Rome to help them make a clean escape.A version of Rabid Dogs completed by Mario Bava.
- DirectorKatsuhiro ÔtomoStarsMitsuo IwataNozomu SasakiMami KoyamaA secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.Adaptations of the other volumes of the manga
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsJosh BrolinElizabeth OlsenSamuel L. JacksonObsessed with vengeance, a man sets out to find out why he was kidnapped and locked into solitary confinement for twenty years without reason.The original Oldboy was technically based off of a manga, although it's different enough from it to be its own work. While Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy ended up being a remake of the South Korean film, originally it was intended to be a more faithful adaptation of the manga directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Will Smith.
- DirectorRichard MarquandStarsMark HamillHarrison FordCarrie FisherAfter rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to help Darth Vader back from the dark side.I love Ewoks. I have no problems with Return of the Jedi. But I would have been interested in seeing what it would have been like if Steven Spielberg, David Lynch or David Cronenberg had taken the offer to direct.
- DirectorPaul W.S. AndersonStarsKit HaringtonEmily BrowningKiefer SutherlandA slave-turned-gladiator finds himself in a race against time to save his true love, who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him.A Pompeii film with special effects by Ray Harryhausen
- DirectorDon ChaffeyStarsTodd ArmstrongNancy KovackGary RaymondThe legendary Greek hero leads a team of intrepid adventurers in a perilous quest for the legendary Golden Fleece.Jason's voyage home
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsMartin FreemanIan McKellenRichard ArmitageA reluctant Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, sets out to the Lonely Mountain with a spirited group of dwarves to reclaim their mountain home and the gold within it from the dragon Smaug.Just one Hobbit movie, directed by Guillermo del Toro
- DirectorRalph BakshiStarsChristopher GuardWilliam SquireMichael ScholesThe Fellowship of the Ring embark on a journey to destroy the One Ring and end Sauron's reign over Middle-earth.Ralph Bakshi's Return of the King
- DirectorRalph BakshiStarsGabriel ByrneKim BasingerJanni BrennWhen Jack Deebs was behind bars he found escape by creating Cool World, a cartoon series featuring a vixen named Holli Would. The flesh proves weaker than ink, however, as Holli takes human form in Las Vegas.Ralph Bakshi's original vision of Cool World that Kim Bassinger squandered,