8 REAL Failed Movie Pitches Just Revealed

Ever wanted to see the Hulk fight John Carpenter's The Thing? Well you're going to want to now...

John Doe Prequel
New Line Cinema

Everyone knows that filmmaking is a precarious business. Hundreds of pitches go through Hollywood each year, but only a select few ever make it to cinemas, either because they were immediately rejected, or some behind-the-scenes troubles derailed pre-production.

Failed movie pitches have captivated film fans for decades, thanks in part to the fact that what could've been almost always sounds more exciting than what eventually ended up on the big screen in a given year.

However, while rejected pitches and cancelled projects have been part and parcel of the filmmaking industry since its inception, talk of failed projects has ballooned over the last decade, Superman Lives and Star Wars: Duel of the Fates the two biggest examples.

For every high-profile cancellation though, there are about a dozen more that sneak beneath the radar, mainly because they didn't make it far in the production process. These are the pitches that were met with rejection near-enough from the off, but that doesn't make them any less interesting, as screenwriting duo Mark Swift and Damian Shannon illustrated when they took to Twitter this month, asking for the weirdest pitches writers had come up with, and why they never got made.

Needless to say, there were some REALLY interesting examples thrown up in the thread - as you can tell from the Se7en pitch Shannon & Swift mention there. There's more though, featuring cancelled sequels, clever reboots, and some really fascinating crossovers...

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Content Producer/Presenter
Content Producer/Presenter

Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.