20 Failed Movie Plans That'll Ruin Your Day

17. Sergio Leone's Leningrad

Much like Kubrick's Napoleon, Sergio Leone's monster adaptation of Harrison Salisbury's book The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad was a great passion project that fate would not allow. 

Positioning the drama as an epic romantic tragedy set during the Nazis bombardment of the title city at the tail-end of the Second World War, Leone suggested to studios a budget of $100 million dollars and a cast led by Robert De Niro, who would portray a Soviet photographer who falls in love with a local woman whilst the city's siege intensifies. 

All seemed well for this particular project until just two days before Leone was set to officially sign on, when the director tragically passed away at 60 before he could see his vision take form. 

After Leone's death, director Alex Cox offered to replace the great cinematic trailblazer, but without Leone, the project fell through without funding. One can only imagine the grand spectacle Leone would have crafted for us, had he not died so very young.