10 Greatest Movies Never Made

9. The Sandman

Neil Gaiman's acclaimed 75 issue series of graphic novels resurrected the great lost character of the '70s, the self-obsessed but ultimately heroic Dream. Warner Bros. fast-tracked the development of the project and the script by Ted Elliott and Terry Russo was said to be excellent, attracting the attention of Pulp Fiction co-writer and Killing Zoe director, Roger Avary.

The Sandman didn't appear to be a project that suited Avary, as he was a maverick, independent director and later became known for the grossly underrated The Rules of Attraction, but he was committed to the project and worked with Elliott and Russo in forging a new draft. The bump in the road came in 1997, after Avary, Russo, and Peters had completed a new draft that was acclaimed by fans of the graphic novel.

The money man and producer, Jon Peters had conflicting views with Avary over the direction in which The Sandman would go. Avary claimed Peters wanted "Sandman in tights and a cape", and that moronic idea caused Avary to leave the project and ever since it has been languishing in the depths of development hell, much to the delight of Neil Gaiman.