In the movie industry, most scripts bought and developed never get made, that's just a depressing side of the business. There are endless great scripts, ideas and concepts that just never get made for so many reasons, the most common of which is money. Development hell isn't just something that affects little known writers and directors, some of the most renowned names in the history of film have seen their projects defeated by the studios and sent to development hell for eternity, the most famous of which would be Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon. Even things such as Justice League, Jurassic Park and Superman - three materials that would be guaranteed commercial successes - can't get made. Despite the committed fanbases, studios keep pushing them to one side. Jurassic Park 4 in particular was a strange one as the previous three Jurassic Park movie made a ton of money for everyone involved, though recent news would suggest it's finally being made. Despite the fact they already have huge followings, adaptations of video games and comic books seem to fall victim to development hell all to often, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in regards to video games, though there are still a few that look like they would translate well into cinema. Development hell is every writer and/or director's nightmare and here are just 10 examples of films fighting to get out.
10. The Sandman
An adaptation of Neil Gaiman's acclaimed series of graphic novels has been in development hell for what seems like an age. The project was originally fast-tracked as the screenplay by Ted Elliott and Terry Russo was seen as excellent. The script attracted the attention of Roger Avary, the co-writer of Pulp Fiction and director of Killing Zoe and The Rules of Attraction. Despite his maverick nature, Avary looked set to work within the confines of a studio environment as he had great passion for the project. Fans of the comic had great hopes for the adaptation and The Sandman seemed safe in the hands of these three, but everything began to fall apart the second the money men got involved. Jon Peters had conflicting ideas to the trio over the direction of the project and he and Avary fell out in drastic style with Avary believing that Peters didn't understand The Sandman. Avary was eventually fired and the adaptation went through several re-writes and screenwriters, but nothing came of it and Neil Gaiman called William Farmer's script "the worst script I've ever read." The Sandman has been trapped in development hell for around a decade and seems doomed to stay there unless someone who has the same passion for the source as Peter Jackson did for The Lord of the Rings comes along.