15 Announced Movies That Are Destined For Development Hell
Admit it. They're never coming out.
"Development hell" is a phrase used to describe troubled movies that, while announced years or even decades prior, have failed to find their footing and actually get shooting.
It's often the death knell for a film when it suffers enough creative and technical setbacks to the point that either the audience isn't there anymore, or those involved simply lose interest in making it.
These 15 movies have been languishing around for quite some time now: some have actually been in development hell before and crawled out of it, but all are circling the drain right now. They could get made, and some are very much on the cusp of production, but it would surprise roughly no-one if everything fell through and they quietly became mere "what if?" fantasy projects in the minds of fans.
15. Friday The 13th
Status: After 2009's remake made $91.4 million at the box office, it seemed like a sequel would be quickly churned out to capitalise on the success...but a flailing economy kept the movie getting made for long enough that the sequel transformed into a reboot.
Why It's Going To Development Hell: Even though a script was finished in 2011 and David Bruckner (The Signal, Southbound) was appointed to direct, by late 2015 Bruckner bailed, and around the same time a highly unrealistic January 13, 2017 release date was set.
There's virtually no chance of the movie making this date without a director yet announced, and with talks of the CW network planning a Friday the 13th TV series, it's possible that the franchise may live on in small-screen form for the foreseeable future. Perhaps once the 2009 reboot is given a little more time to breathe, it might feel more apt to try again with reboot #2.
Until then, Jason goes to developmental hell.