20 Failed Movie Plans That'll Ruin Your Day
10. Sly Stallone & RDJ's Edgar Allan Poe Biopic
Throughout his career, Sylvester Stallone has always soared when bringing to life his great passion projects, and it can be easy to forget just how affecting a writer he can be. I mean, look at Rocky!
Sly's greatest passion project, though, never got off the ground. Written in 1979 after the breakaway success of Rocky, his next film was meant to be a biopic about Edgar Allan Poe, which never came to fruition because studios weren't willing to fund a film that didn't lean into his explosive screen presence.
Years later, he rewrote the script in another attempt to get it moving, this time hoping to cast Robert Downey Jr in the title role. Once again, though, the project fell apart. Despite his obvious passion for the story and his personal respect for Poe, he said of the project: "No matter what I do, it's not gonna live up to the hype."
This seems unfair. Rocky proved Sly had a knack for exploring the lives of brilliant, broken men, so one can surely imagine Poe being a hit, especially with RDJ in his corner!