10 Films That Were Stuck In Development Hell For Years

The most successful superhero films of the 20th century were undoubtedly the Superman movies. Christopher Reeve really made the part his own in 1978's Superman and Superman II was well-received as well. However, the third film didn't do as well and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was awful.

The film did so badly it forced the fifth Superman movie into development hell, where it would spend almost two decades. Many producers were worried about investing in another Superman movie, and a host of scripts and ideas were imagined and rejected throughout the 90s and early 2000s.

The first idea was called Superman Reborn, and featured the hero dying and coming back to life. The script was rewritten a couple of times, but the idea just didn't stick with the studio. Kevin Smith then got involved and pitched his concept for the film, called Superman Lives. The likes of Robert Rodriguez, Tim Burton, and Nicolas Cage were all linked with the project, which underwent a very troubled pre-production process, leading to Burton walking away.

J.J. Abrams was next to try his hand with a script called Superman: Flyby. Again, multiple directors and actors got involved but it all fell apart. Finally, Bryan Singer got involved and Superman Returns eventually came out in 2006, 19 years after Superman IV.