10 Long-Awaited Film Adaptations Which Can't Get Off The Ground

2. Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury's novels aren't all that cinematic at a first glance, particularly as the plot generally takes a backseat, but Fahrenheit 451 has already made it to the silver screen once. François Truffaut's 1966 film version is a work of art in its own right, but it's also highly stylised and an altogether quite radical interpretation of the book, so a new adaptation could easily bring something different to the table. In 2002, Bradbury himself complained that Mel Gibson had owned the rights for six years and had done little but oversee endless rewrites of the script. Frank Darabont was then attached to the project with a complete screenplay and had Tom Hanks lined up for the role of the protagonist Montag, but Hanks pulled out in 2008 and the film collapsed again. Since then Fahrenheit 451 has remained shackled in development hell, but Darabont has insisted that he'll die before he lets it go, which is perhaps a little too much dedication.