Chris Columbus's unrealized projects
The following is a list of unproduced Chris Columbus projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Chris Columbus has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects, are officially scrapped or fell in development hell.
1980s
Indiana Jones and the Monkey King
In 1985, Columbus wrote an script for a third Indiana Jones film entitled Indiana Jones and the Monkey King.[1] Columbus' script was about the trip of Indy along his assistant Betsy to a secret city protected by soldier gorillas and governed by the evil Monkey King. According to Columbus, he wrote the script so that the story doesn't look like the previous film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.[2] However, at the end, Columbus' script was rejected and the film was finally released in 1989 under the title Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and directed by Steven Spielberg.
1990s
Fantastic Four
In 1995, Columbus wrote for 20th Century Fox a script for the long time planned Fantastic Four feature-length film.[3] The film was supposed to be released around the 2001 summer. Peter Segal was attached to direct it, but later, he dropped the project, so Raja Gosnell took the director's chair, but he dropped it after being hired by Warner Bros. to direct Scooby-Doo and its sequel. After this, director Peyton Reed entered into the project and wanted to cast Renée Zellweger as Invisible Woman.[4] The film was finally released in 2005, directed by Tim Story and written by Michael France and Mark Frost.
Galaxy High School
Plans for a live-action film adaptation of his own 1986 animated TV series Galaxy High was planned in partnership with John H. Williams of Vanguard Films, and reteamed with Chris Columbus to develop the big screen version of Galaxy High School. After various development deals with both DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures, Sofare nothing ever came out of it, either being scrapped or in development hell.
Daredevil
In 1997, Columbus was hired by Columbia Pictures to write an script for a Daredevil feature film.[5] Columbus' script was later leaked on Internet in 1999. Despite this, Columbia dropped the project and 20th Century Fox bought the rights.[6] The film was finally released in 2003 and directed by Mark Steven Johnson.
2000s
The Sub-Mariner
In July 2004, Columbus was hired to direct a film adaptation of Namor.[7] The film was supposed to be released in 2007 [8] However, in 2005, Columbus abandoned the project.[9]
References
- ^ Anders, Charlie Jane. "100 Wonderful and Terrible Movies That Never Existed".
- ^ "The Lost Scripts, Part I: Indiana Jones and the Monkey King". 26 July 2012.
- ^ Archerd, Army (13 July 1995). "Columbus seeing red after 'Nine' reviews".
- ^ "9 Things Fox Got Right With Their 1996 Fantastic Four Script...That We Never Got to See - The Robot's Voice". 11 February 2015.
- ^ Stax (26 April 2001). "Daredevil: The Man Without Ed".
- ^ "Movie Reviews, Trailers, Interviews, Wikis & Posters for Movies - IGN".
- ^ Brodesser, Claude (3 December 2004). "Columbus off to sea".
- ^ "Marvel's Film Slate From 3rd Quarter Report - SuperHeroHype". 28 October 2004.
- ^ "Chris Columbus Passes on Sub-Mariner - SuperHeroHype". 12 November 2005.