Perhaps the most infamous production in Hollywood's long history was Alexandro Jodorowsky's attempt at adapting the 1968 novel 'Dune'. Ambition, ego, and too much money led to what is likely the most legendary story in the industry, even getting it's own documentary which I highly recommend. However, the rabbit hole goes so much deeper when sorting through the vaults of the film business, from deleted scenes to full on unmade or missing films and today I'm announcing a new section to the blog. These articles will focus on the films that never were, became something new, or sadly may never be found.
1. Crusade
When researching 'Crusade', I have to say it would have thrown the audience for quite the loop. The film would have been directed by Paul Verhoeven of 'Robocop' fame and star Arnold Schwarzenegger as a soldier fighting in the religious crusades. While a standard action film on paper, the script and concepts that Verhoeven had in mind suggested a deeper and quite controversial film had it been made. The story has Arnold starring as a warrior who stages a false miracle in order to escape execution, which those in charge then exploit for personal gain. Verhoeven isn't a stranger to controversy of course and he really wanted this film to discuss issues of religious figures flexing their power and the cruelty and violence towards the Jews and Muslims during the Crusades.
Despite the potential backlash Carloco would have faced backing the film, they had faith in Verhoeven after working with him on 'Total Recall' however what sealed the coffin for the epic was the swashbuckling adventure 'Cutthroat Island'. The film suffered severe production issues and after becoming Carloco's most expensive film at the time, it bombed at the box office sending the studio in bankruptcy and shuttering any future projects. It's a shame this never made it to the silver screen as there are very few films set during the Crusades, and even less films willing to discuss such controversial themes. It would've likely been a game changer, but sadly we'll never know.
2. Night Skies
After 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' director Steven Spielberg was still looking towards the stars and his next project would be 'Night Skies', the darker side of 'Encounters'. The film would be a thriller/horror set in a farmhouse where a family is attacked by alien creatures and would be a throwback to the old 50's films that Spielberg grew up with. He commissioned future Oscar winner Rick Baker to create the alien creature effects which you can see above and may see a resemblance to a future film. Once pre-production began, the script grew too dark for Spielberg and felt that the reigns should go to Tobe Hooper.
Eventually, things just weren't getting off the ground fast enough and the film was eventually scrapped however most if not all elements would be utilized in several future film projects. The alien designs would be toned down and used for the smash hit 'E.T.' while many horror elements from the script would move over to Hooper's 'Poltergeist' and even at one point the script was once considered to be retooled into a sequel to 'E.T.'. This unmade sequel deserves its own mention so I'll save it for next time but one wonders if 'Night Skies' would have done well or what Spielberg's status would be in Hollywood today had he not made 'E.T.'.
3. Halo
Two studios, one game company, two different directors, and who knows how much money thrown at it and we still have no 'Halo' film. Beginning in the mid 2000's 20th Century Fox (Now 20th Century Studios/Disney), Universal Pictures, and Microsoft brought Peter Jackson on board after coming off the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy to helm the adaptation before he switched to an executive producer role. The studio's next choice was Guillermo Del Toro, who turned them down to work on 'Hellboy II' instead. Finally, they settled on Neil Blomkamp who had yet to release a feature film with a script by Alex Garland (28 Days Later).
Then came the struggle. Blomkamp was not happy during production, saying he lacked any power or control over the vision as well as being treated very poorly by Fox in particular. The studios then butted heads with each other and this brought the film to a standstill, during which Blomkamp produced a short film as a proof of concept which I've linked HERE. Finally fed up with his treatment and the production completely stuck, the director left the project and filmed 'District 9' for Sony which became a cult hit and launched him into stardom while 'Halo' was left in the dust. Regardless of your thoughts on the game series as a whole, if the film ever does see the light of day it'll be a sad case of "too little, too late".
4. Rob Zombie's 'The Blob'
Probably the strangest entry depending on who you ask, Rob Zombie was tasked to remake 'The Blob' again. The film was already remade in 1988 and is an excellent product of the 80s with some of the best practical effects that still hold up today. While it's unknown if Zombie would've gone the same route with the special effects, if the previously unreleased concept art is anything to go by he would've have definitely made it his own for both good or bad. The other artwork can be viewed HERE but it gives you a good idea of where he was going with the titular blob, depicting it as some kind of viral or body-snatching entity that zombifies whoever it infects.
The film would've taken inspiration from 'The Thing', 'Body Snatchers', the works of H.R. Giger, and of course the grindhouse drive-in flicks Zombie is so fond of. While this film would've likely been worth a watch, I can't see it as a remake of 'The Blob' which may have been the reason it was shelved. We could also factor in Zombie's career during the production. After 'Halloween II' failed to draw an audience after the mixed opinions of that remake it could've been the studio felt he was no longer an asset and pulled the plug. Whatever the reason, I have a morbid curiosity to see this story someday, just maybe as an original story and name.
5. Ronnie Rocket
David Lynch began work on 'Ronnie Rocket' after his first feature film 'Eraserhead' in 1977. The story involves a one-legged detective who enters another dimension and meets a little person who controls electricity or in other words, a typical Tuesday in the mind of David Lynch. 'Ronnie Rocket' has since become one of the three big legends of film, with the other two being Stanley Kubrick's unmade 'Napoleon' epic, and Alfred Hitchcock's 'Kalidescope' as an infamous obsession of the director that will likely never see the light of day. The film was conceived nearly 50 years ago and with Lynch retiring from film to focus on his art and music, it's just wishful thinking at this point.
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