10 Films That Were Stuck In Development Hell For Years

Fans had been begging for a crossover between the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street series for years. The thought of seeing two of the biggest horror movie icons of all time going up against each other was simply too tantalising to ignore, but the two studios responsible for the franchises, New Line and Paramount, could never agree on how the movie should play out.

Essentially, both companies wanted to be in charge of the movie and negotiations, which started way back in 1987, were protracted over several years, with additional films in each series being released in the meantime. New Line eventually got the rights to both franchises but the project stayed in development hell as many writers and ideas were drawn up and thrown out.

Mark Swift and Damian Shannon eventually wrote the film and came up with a bunch of different endings, one of which even included Pinhead from the Hellraiser movies making a guest appearance. Struggling to settle on a script, Shannon and Swift decided to create a set of rules to help them respect both franchises and write a balanced movie.

Finally, an idea almost two decades in the making hit cinemas in 2003 and was hugely successful, making more cash at the box office than any individual Freddy or Jason film.