10 Films That Were Stuck In Development Hell For Years

It was way back in the mid-1990s when Peter Jackson started thinking of making a movie based on The Hobbit. At the time, Jackson planned to film the book as a precursor to his planned The Lord of the Rings films, but problems quickly arose regarding the rights to the story.

The production and distribution rights were in the hands of different people, making it hard to reach an agreement, leading to Jackson making his LotR films in advance and giving up on The Hobbit for a while.

In the mid-2000s, Jackson had a big falling out with New Line Cinema, with co-founder Robert Shaye saying he'd never work with the director again. Fortunately, they managed to make up, but tons of legal issues plagued the production, with the Tolkien Estate even suing New Line at one point. Eventually, Guillermo del Toro came on board and everyone was pretty excited to see the director bring his dark fantasy style to Tolkien's world.

The project seemed to be advancing well, with Jackson and del Toro getting on nicely, but the director left in 2010 after major delays due to ongoing legal and rights issues. Even more problems arose when the studio considered not filming in New Zealand. Eventually, Jackson stepped up as director and sorted everything out to get the first film in cinemas for 2012.

Were these movies worth the wait? Which other movies were stuck in development hell? Let us know down in the comments.