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These in-development movies just got canned.
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00:00Though there are literally thousands of movies released every single year, the number of
00:05in-development films that end up getting scrapped for one reason or another is basically innumerable.
00:13Heck, some films get culled early enough in development that we never even hear about them,
00:19not unless someone close to the production spills the beans. Just a big ol' saucy mess everywhere.
00:26But there are of course many movies that get so close to actually being filmed that they're widely
00:33publicly known about and yet for one of many potential reasons, they still end up getting
00:40cancelled. And wouldn't you know it, it happened to a bunch of films just this year. So I'm Ewan,
00:46this is WhatCulture and it's time to stick our hands into that big ol' pile of bean goo
00:51and look at a few movies that just got cancelled.
00:55First up, Tron 4.
00:57Oh Hollywood, you silly old rascal. Well, we learn that Jared Leto just isn't the answer.
01:04The recently released Tron Ares was obviously intended to revitalize the series' big screen
01:12prospects, complete with an ending that showed that Jared Leto's Ares will seek out the protagonists
01:18of previous film Tron Legacy, specifically Sam, played by Garrett Hedlund, and Cora, played by
01:24Olivia Wilde, in the next movie. Obviously, the sequel's existence was entirely contingent upon the
01:36box office success of Ares. And given that the 220 million blockbuster will be lucky to crack 200
01:43million worldwide by the end of its theatrical run, less than half of what Legacy made 15 years ago,
01:51well, that pretty much poured cold water on any plans for a fourth movie in the franchise.
01:56Days after the movie's soft opening weekend, The Hollywood Reporter indicated that Disney would
02:02likely now be quote-unquote, retiring Tron as a cinematic event, instead using the IP's branding for
02:10theme park rides, video games, and maybe a TV show?
02:16Next up, Sylvester Stallone's Rambo Prequel
02:20Though 2019's Rambo Last Blood was initially intended to be the final entry into the Sylvester
02:28Stallone starring action thriller franchise, it didn't take too long for Sly to start talking
02:33up the prospect of another sequel anyway. Earlier this year, it was announced that the sequel had
02:39been scrapped in favor of a prequel called John Rambo, with Noah Centineo set to star as a younger
02:47iteration of the character. When discussing the prequel, Stallone mentioned that another version
02:53of the idea was actually in the works before this, in which Stallone would have once again portrayed Rambo
02:59with AI technology being used to make him look much younger. However, Stallone added that he ultimately
03:06quote-unquote procrastinated too long with the idea, at which point Rambo's rights holders decided
03:13instead to move forward with a different prequel starring a young actor. Considering how costly and
03:20risky it would be to de-age Stallone for an entire movie, it was honestly probably for the best that
03:26this
03:26version of a Rambo prequel never came to fruition. The Aristocats live-action...remake?
03:35The emotional whiplash reading out of that heading has given me, like I didn't even know if this was
03:40a thing and it was gonna happen, but to find out that it was and that it's now also dead?
03:45Just like
03:46pure fatigue switching to relief but also bewilderment in like the space of two seconds.
03:52Anyway, in 2022 Disney announced that they were set to produce a live-action remake of their beloved
03:581970 animated musical comedy The Aristocats, which we've established I clearly managed to psychically
04:04block from my perception due to how bad and pointless all those other Disney live-action
04:10remakes are. Seriously, what are we doing here? They make so much money! Why? They're so bad!
04:18Again, getting sidetracked. Word went deathly quiet on The Aristocats remake in the years that followed its
04:25announcement. Until this past August, when Questlove flatly confirmed that the remake had been scrapped,
04:32citing numerous regime changes at Disney causing the film to get the old
04:38given that Disney is taking a more conservative approach to their live-action remakes following the
04:45box office failure of Snow White earlier this year, prompting them to even pause a remake of hit
04:51animation tangled, it's not terribly surprising that they've tabled a trickier adaptation of one of
04:58their less mainstream animations. Next on the list, an untitled Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio
05:05project. It's no secret that the great Martin Scorsese constantly has numerous projects on the go,
05:12although which one exactly will be the next in the mixer has been the subject of some confusion. It was
05:19recently reported that Scorsese actually got incredibly close to shooting a new film this
05:24past summer with his regular collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio, a project DiCaprio apparently dropped out
05:31of Damien Chazelle's Evil Knievel film to be a part of. The exact project in question hasn't been publicly
05:38revealed, and given the numerous unfilmed Scorsese and DiCaprio collabs over the years,
05:44it could be one of many. The most likely candidates include their long gestating Frank Sinatra biopic,
05:51an adaptation of Marilyn Robinson's acclaimed novel Home, serial killer dramatization The Devil
05:56in the White City which I just read this summer and gets my endorsement for It Should Be Made,
06:02and a Hawaii-set crime drama co-starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. Whichever one it was,
06:08was it didn't happen, and considering that the filmmaker turns 83 this year, the time window
06:14is naturally beginning to close for most of these projects to actually get made.
06:19The Transformers 1 sequel
06:21With last year's animated spin-off Transformers 1 scoring stronger views from critics and a solid
06:27A cinema score from audiences, it seemed like a given that the film would be a box office success and
06:33spawn a wider franchise of animated pictures. But to the surprise of many, Transformers 1 flopped
06:40commercially, grossing well below expectations in its opening weekend and ending its global run with
06:47just $129.4 million. For a film said to be budgeted as high as $147 million, that is a disastrous
06:57result, and has been attributed to both mediocre marketing and competition from the more acclaimed
07:04animation The Wild Robot, which released just a week later. This left many doubting the prospect of
07:11a planned trilogy coming to fruition. All the more so once Transformers co-owner Hasbro revealed that they
07:17were stepping back from co-financing film adaptations in light of the movie's failure. But it wasn't until
07:23botcon in June 2025 that director Josh Cooley formally confirmed that the planned Transformers 1 sequel
07:30had indeed been scrapped. However, recent word indicates that Cooley will instead be put to work
07:37directing a new live action Transformers movie instead. So Paramount at least clearly appreciates
07:44the fine work he did on the animated version. On the way, Killing Gawker
07:49In summer 2024, it was announced that Killing Gawker was in the works, a dramatization of the legal
07:57battle between Hulk Hogan and Gawker Media after the latter published segments from a sex tape featuring
08:03Hogan in 2012. The film was set to be produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's label Artist's Equity and
08:10based on Ryan Holiday's book, Conspiracy, Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and The Anatomy of Intrigue.
08:22Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant was meanwhile circling to direct, and there were
08:27even rumors that Affleck himself would end up portraying the Hulkster. However, in light of
08:33Hogan's sudden passing this past July, word did the rounds that Killing Gawker had been scrapped
08:39by Damon and Affleck. And while one might assume this was directly related to his death, the report
08:46added that the decision was made long prior to this. Notably, Hulk Hogan had reportedly considered
08:52legal action against the filmmakers prior to his death, depending on the content of the movie.
08:59Another Star Wars disappointment now, with the hunt for Ben Solo.
09:04Now, in total fairness, this film was technically cancelled a few years back, but news of its
09:10existence was only brought to light in recent weeks. And yeah, if there was any further proof
09:16of the movie, the movie was just a few years ago. And if you're not sure what's going on,
09:19you're not sure what's going on. And you're not sure what's going on, you're not sure what's going on.
09:21But if you're not sure what's going on, you're not sure what's going on.
09:21Now, in total fairness, this film was technically cancelled a few years back,
09:28but news of its existence was only brought to light in recent weeks.
09:33Kylo Ren actor Adam Driver revealed in October that he and legendary filmmaker Steven Soderbergh
09:40spent two years developing a follow-up to The Rise of Skywalker called The Hunt for Ben Solo,
09:48with Soderbergh's regular collaborator Scott Z. Burns petting the script. Burns wrote a draft which
09:54Driver called, quote, one of the coolest scripts he'd ever been involved with. But ultimately,
10:00Disney CEO Bob Iger and co-chairman Alan Bergman rejected the pitch, expressing confusion over
10:07how Ben Solo could still be alive after episode 9. Given the vitriolic fan response to The Rise of
10:15Skywalker, a campaign to get this movie made swiftly began, urging Disney to greenlight the hunt for
10:22Ben Solo rather than leave it unmade forevermore. But considering the wildly messy state of modern
10:28Star Wars and the series fraught past with kowtowing for the loudest members of its fanbase,
10:34it seems incredibly unlikely that the Mouse House will actually pull the trigger on this one.
10:39Next up, an unspecified DC Universe film. James Gunn is currently in the midst of building up his DC
10:48Universe, which formally kicked off with his well-received reimagining of Superman this past summer.
10:54Gunn, who is incredibly online and regularly talks to fans and journalists alike about the
11:00state of ongoing projects, revealed to NPR back in July that one planned DCU movie was actually
11:06recently scrapped. He hasn't named the film in question, but Gunn said that it was written and
11:12fully greenlit with a talented director in place, only to cancel the project because he knew the script
11:18wasn't in a good moment. Gunn added that he killed the film because he knew it would make everyone
11:25involved look bad, and this naturally left fans speculating on precisely which project it could be.
11:32Given that Andy Muschietti's The Brave and the Bold and James Mangold's Swamp Thing are still said to
11:37be in development, it's far more likely to be something like The Authority, which Gunn had already
11:43admitted was struggling to come together many months before this interview. Either way,
11:49one of the previously slated DCU movies flat out isn't happening anymore, straight from the horse's
11:55mouth. On the way, Megan 3.0. 2022's horror comedy Megan was such a stonking box office hit, grossing
12:05$181.8 million on a $12 million budget that it was abundantly clear that a major new IP was born.
12:15Sequel Megan 2.0 was swiftly greenlit, as well as an erotic thriller spinoff called Soulmate,
12:21and considering both the success of the original and the relatively low budget involved,
12:26it seemed like Blumhouse could crank these silly killer robot movies out for years.
12:31In the lead up to Megan 2.0's release, it was simply assumed that the film would be an easy
12:37success,
12:38after which Megan 3.0 would hit cinemas within a few short years. But in one of the more surprising
12:45box office stories of the year, the sequel massively underperformed, grossing just $39.1 million,
12:52barely 20% of what its predecessor raked in just a few years before.
12:58This was primarily attributed to Megan 2.0 veering into more overt sci-fi comedy territory while toning
13:06down the horror elements of the first film, ensuring that many who got a kick out of the first one
13:11just
13:12weren't interested this time around. The failure was catastrophic enough to ensure that all plans
13:18for Megan 3.0 seemingly ground to a halt overnight, but producer Jason Blum bluntly stating that he and
13:25the filmmakers quote, classically overthought how powerful people's engagement was with the title
13:31character. On the way, Carnival at the End of Days
13:36In June 2024, the great Terry Gilliam announced his latest film, Carnival at the End of Days, a fantastical
13:44satire in which Jeff Bridges and Johnny Depp would play God and Satan respectively, with a supporting
13:50cast to be filled out by Jason Momoa, Aser Butterfield, Emma Laird, and Tom Waits. Given that Gilliam
13:57turns 85 this year, the movie was widely expected to be his last, though the filmmaker recently confirmed
14:05that the project had been regretfully scrapped. In a new interview, Gilliam bluntly confirmed that
14:12Carnival at the End of Days wouldn't be happening, revealing that his Italian financing partners had
14:18failed to come through with the expected money. Despite his plaudits, Gilliam has struggled to
14:23finance films throughout most of his career due to their esoteric and often not remotely commercial
14:28nature, so this isn't terribly surprising even if it is hugely disappointing. Gilliam has now turned
14:35his sights to making The Defective Detective instead, which is a script he wrote more than 30 years ago
14:42and now hopes to make as his final project, so here's hoping it all comes together.
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