10 Insane Movies That Were Almost Made
7. The Tourist
The Movie: No, not the Johnny Depp one. Filmmaker Clair Noto's The Tourist would've been a sci-fi story following Grace Ripley, an attractive young female professional who is secretly a member of an alien race. Set in modern-day Manhattan, her and her species would be living in hiding, seeking a way to get back to their home world.
Noto wanted The Tourist to have a vivid sexual element, stating that she wanted to make "a science-fiction movie for adults" which portrayed "sexual agony and ecstasy". Quite how that meshes with an alien story is anyone's guess.
Why It Wasn't Made: Noto wanted to make the movie her way - sexy overtones and all - but studio Universal kept pushing back, and the project swiftly entered development hell. At the time, this undercover-alien idea was very original, but the sexualized nature of the story was something that studio execs just couldn't get onboard with.
Remnants of the concept can be seen in flicks like Men In Black (aliens disguised as humans trying to fit into society). Noto did return to the script in the early 2000s, but the idea was just a bit too irreverent (and expensive) for any major studio to take a gamble on.