10 Movies You Won’t Believe Are In Development

Every once in a while, movie fans erupt with excitement upon hearing the news that a new film is in development. Often these films are the long-awaited sequels to much loved originals (Mad Max: Fury Road), or the silver screen adaptation of a renowned book series or video game (The Dark Tower, Warcraft etc.).

Sadly, for fans these films often get trapped in Hollywood’s version of purgatory known as Development Hell. Lack of financing, creative differences and endless rewrites can mean films never leave Development Hell, which isn’t always a terrible thing (talking about you Superman Lives!).

But the chance of these films never coming to the big screen doesn’t seem to dampen fans’ enthusiasm. In fact, the anticipation for a film coming out is sometimes the best part of the movie-going experience.

Big studios seem to have realised this with the likes of Marvel seemingly planning films to be released in 100 years’ time. Even after the apocalypse Marvel will be releasing films detailing Hawkeye’s origin story. Due to Marvel’s insanely detailed development process no Marvel films will be mentioned here. That’s an entire list of itself.

So, at a time where many films in development are widely reported, it is surprising to see how many slip through the cracks. And what is even more surprising is that some of them are being made at all.

When most people see, that Netflix are releasing a remake of the kids classic Pinocchio it’s fair to say that they wouldn’t expect Guillermo del Toro to direct. With a filmography that includes Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy and The Devil’s Backbone, del Toro may seem an unlikely fit for such a project.

However, this isn’t your mothers remake of The Adventures of Pinocchio. As only del Toro would, the film is a stop motion animated dark fantasy musical film, that takes place during the rise of fascism in Italy during the 1930s.

Disney have cancelled their live-action remake plans for Pinocchio. Guillermo del Toro’s version will certainly not be the bland shot-for-shot fodder that Disney has produced in recent years.

The Oscar winning director intends to return to the source material that is significantly darker than the Disney classic film, with del Toro describing Collodi’s original book as “a very brutalist fable about what a sin disobedience is."

Filming began in January 2020 with a release date of 2021. And with a cast including Tilda Swinton and Ewan McGregor as well as the dark, twisted imagination of del Toro, Pinocchio is certainly a movie that no one can claim to have expected. Don’t even try and lie… your nose might grow.