10 Finished Movies That Disappeared Without A Trace

Originally picked up by Working Title Films in 1998, this story of countercultural satirical 1960s magazine Oz spent almost a decade in development hell before ever entering production. That's nothing, though, compared to the years that the finished movie has spent unreleased since then.

Hippie Hippie Shake was finally shot in 2007 with Cillian Murphy cast as Oz editor Richard Neville, on whose memoirs the film was based, and then-rising star Sienna Miller as his girlfriend. The real Neville was sanguine about delays, suggesting that the political climate of the 2000s, with people marching in the streets to protest an unpopular foreign war, were a better fit for the 60s than the 90s had been anyway.

It was initially rumoured that the movie was pushed back from its proposed 2008 release date because of the negative effects of tabloid gossip surrounding Miller's private life. But it increasingly became apparent that Working Title and director Beeban Kidron had very different visions for the end product.

The Bridget Jones 2 helmer left the project in the summer of 2009 citing the classic "creative differences" excuse. That didn't stop Hippie Hippie Shake from getting test screenings around that time, but the movie disappeared from release schedules shortly afterwards. In 2011 Working Title announced that they had no intention of putting it out.

Oddly, though, the response from those test screenings was actually pretty positive with critics suggesting that, while providing nothing groundbreaking, Hippie Hippie Shake was a fun and engaging watch. That still wasn't enough to actually get the movie released, though.