9 Abandoned Sequel Plots That Sound Better Than The Movies We Got
7. The Original Draft Of Death Wish 4
Nobody expected Death Wish 4: The Crackdown to be any good, and they weren’t disappointed. The fourth instalment featured a creaky Charles Bronson gunning down interchangeable goons, and the plot did nothing inventive with the concept. Screenwriter Gail Morgan Hickman tried his best, though.
Hickman's initial concept had Bronson’s vigilante lonely and depressed, and he tries to reconcile with his love interest from part two – played by Bronson’s real-life wife Jill Ireland - who broke up with him when she discovered his hobby. He retires and they fall back in love; so naturally she winds up being killed in a robbery.
Bronson tracks down her killers but captures them instead of killing them. He brings them to the police, but they’re set free because nobody believes Bronson’s story. In the end, Bronson picks up a gun and does things the old fashioned way.
Hickman’s script was well liked, but Ireland didn’t want to do another violent movie after her struggle with breast cancer. The script was tossed out, leading to the boring shoot 'em up that was made.