{"id":4567,"date":"2015-07-28T09:39:29","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T09:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/?p=4567"},"modified":"2016-02-29T11:35:14","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T11:35:14","slug":"6-of-the-best-films-never-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/07\/28\/6-of-the-best-films-never-made\/","title":{"rendered":"6 of the best films (n)ever made"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Getting a film made is difficult. You have to come up with a great idea, find funding and hope that the powers that be won\u2019t shut down your idea at the last minute. Every movie that gets made is a miracle (even the terrible ones).<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the complexities of getting a movie made has led to a lot of brilliant and weird ideas being left by the wayside over the years. Here are 6 of the best films never made!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Jbt8oH5Lxto\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><b>The Lord of the Rings (starring the Beatles)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>The 60s were a wild time: people took a lot of strange things, love was free and the Beatles almost starred in a version of <i>The Lord of the Rings<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re not joking. According to various sources (including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.people.com\/people\/article\/0,,623838,00.html\">actual <i>LOTR <\/i>director Peter Jackson<\/a>), Paul would have played Frodo, Ringo would have been Sam, George would have played Gandalf, and John Lennon would have been Gollum.<\/p>\n<p><b>Why would it have been great? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Fab Four were at the height of their creative powers, and almost enlisted <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2014\/07\/peter-jackson-the-hobbit-stanley-kubrick-the-beatles-810912\/\">Stanley Kubrick as director<\/a>. There\u2019s no way this psychedelic <i>Lord of the Rings<\/i> wouldn\u2019t have been brilliant.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and did we mention that John Lennon would have played Gollum?<\/p>\n<p><b>Why didn\u2019t it happen? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>J.R.R Tolkien <a href=\"https:\/\/dangerousminds.net\/comments\/john_lennon_wanted_to_play_gollum_in_a_beatles_lord_of_the_rings_movie_but\">refused the Beatles the rights<\/a>. No-one knows exactly why, but it\u2019s rumoured a Beatles-inspired band that lived a few doors away annoyed him enough to refuse the Beatles the rights to his greatest work.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_5Q1j0XJQPI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><b>Superman Lives <\/b><\/h3>\n<p><i>Superman Lives<\/i> had all the ingredients to be the greatest superhero movies of all time. Tim Burton was directing. Kevin Smith was writing. And, best of all, Nicolas Cage was going to don the famous red cape.<\/p>\n<p><b>Why would it have been great? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Tim Burton had just finished his <i>Batman <\/i>films, Kevin Smith (a lifelong comic book fan) was at the height of his creative powers and Nicolas Cage &#8211; a man who loves Superman so much that he named one of his children Kal-El &#8211; would have put in nothing less than his best performance ever (even better than <i>Vampire\u2019s Kiss<\/i>).<\/p>\n<p><b>Why didn\u2019t it happen? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>So much that there\u2019s actually a documentary about it. Burton enlisted someone else to rewrite Smith\u2019s script, the budget was slashed and, to top it all off, <i>Batman and Robin <\/i>was released around the same time and killed off the superhero genre for a few years. Poor Nic Cage \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vzyhPqFaRmg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><b>Justice League: Mortal<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>With <i>Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice <\/i>out next year, a <i>Justice League<\/i> film is almost certain to follow. But we almost got<a href=\"https:\/\/io9.com\/the-first-ever-look-at-george-millers-scrapped-justice-1708165083\"> a <i>Justice League <\/i>film<\/a> way back in 2008, directed by none other than <i>Mad Max: Fury Road<\/i> mastermind George Miller.<\/p>\n<p>The film introduced all of the major players in the <i>Justice League <\/i>universe, including new versions of Batman and Superman, and a cast including Armie Hammer and Jay Baruchel was fully signed up. Sets and costumes were ready too.<\/p>\n<p><b>Why it would have been great? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>While the leaked script has been met with mixed reviews, anyone who\u2019s seen <i>Fury Road<\/i> knows that George Miller doesn\u2019t need snappy dialogue and a deep story to make a brilliant film. Early concept art suggests it would have been one of the most ambitious superhero films ever.<\/p>\n<p><b>Why didn\u2019t it happen? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Budget issues. Oh, and <i>The Dark Knight<\/i> came out around the same time and made a gazillion pounds at the box office, which put the studio off launching another version of Batman.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PALjbTo1D5U\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><b>Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (as directed by David Lynch)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>In the early 80s, David Lynch and <i>Star Wars<\/i> were the hottest names in the movie business. No-one thought the two would ever meet though: <i>Star Wars<\/i> was the biggest franchise in the world, while Lynch specialised in surreal arthouse pieces (with the exception of his Oscar-winning version of <i>The Elephant Man<\/i>).<\/p>\n<p>Then, one day, Lynch and George Lucas had a meeting. The weirdest collaboration of all time was on&#8230;almost.<\/p>\n<p><b>Why would it have been great? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Lynch\u2019s surrealist style would have taken the <i>Star Wars <\/i>universe in a completely different direction, with a darker tone similar to <i>The Empire Strikes Back<\/i>. Based on the homage made by a Lynch fan above, it would have been a lot weirder too.<\/p>\n<p><b>Why didn\u2019t it happen? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>After meeting Lucas, Lynch declared that Lucas\u2019 new alien designs gave him a headache (presumably he saw Jar-Jar Binks). He politely declined and went on to make the critically panned <i>Dune. <\/i><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <i>Return of the Jedi <\/i>went on to become everyone\u2019s least favourite <i>Star Wars <\/i>film (until <i>The Phantom Menace<\/i>).<\/p>\n<p>In short, no-one won.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><b><i>Got an old mobile you don\u2019t use anymore? <a title=\"Sell your iPhone\" href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/sell-mobile-phones\/sell-my-iphone\">Sell your iPhone<\/a> or any other device to musicMagpie for CASH!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/batman-year-one.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4568\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/batman-year-one.jpg\" alt=\"Batman Year One\" width=\"310\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/batman-year-one.jpg 310w, https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/batman-year-one-186x300.jpg 186w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><b>Batman: Year One<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><i>Year One <\/i>is one of the most popular Batman comics of all time, and was at least partially adapted by Christopher Nolan in <i>Batman Begins<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>However, Darren Aronofsky of <i>Black Swan <\/i>fame was once working on a version with <i>Year One\u2019s <\/i>writer Frank MIller too&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><b>Why would it have been great? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>It would have completely changed the Batman origin story. Bruce Wayne\u2019s parents still would have been killed, but instead of being raised by Alfred and learning to fight with Liam Neeson, Bruce would have been taken in by two mechanics and raised in the mean streets of Gotham. One of the mechanics, Little Al, would have taken on the Alfred role.<\/p>\n<p>Also, it would have been extremely violent. Aronofsky described his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slashfilm.com\/tales-development-hell-darren-aronofskys-batman-year-one-starring-clint-eastwood\/\">Batman as being like \u201d\u02dcTravis Bickle\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Why didn\u2019t it happen? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Although Frank Miller was fully behind the project, movie execs were a little less keen on the idea of a street-raised psycho Batman. Instead, a young British director called Christopher Nolan got the nod and the rest, as they say, is history.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/gladiator.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4570\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/gladiator.jpg\" alt=\"Gladiator\" width=\"353\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/gladiator.jpg 353w, https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/gladiator-212x300.jpg 212w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 353px) 100vw, 353px\" \/><\/a><b><\/b><\/h3>\n<h3><b>Gladiator 2<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><i>Gladiator <\/i>won 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor, as well as making a truckload of money at the box office. A sequel was almost inevitable&#8230;if only [SPOILERS!] the main hero Maximus didn\u2019t die at the end.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott weren\u2019t going to let a little thing like death get in the way of a money-spinner. So, they went off to find someone to write a sequel&#8230;and came back with Nick Cave (yes, that one).<\/p>\n<p><b>Why would it have been great? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Cave\u2019s <i>Gladiator 2 <\/i>would have <a href=\"https:\/\/goneelsewhere.wordpress.com\/2008\/04\/15\/gladiator-2-script-review\/\">been the craziest film of all time<\/a>. Shortly after the events of the first film, Crowe\u2019s Maximus is raised from the dead by a group of Roman Gods who want him to do their bidding. Maximus is sent back to Earth as an immortal warrior, and ends up intervening in conflicts throughout history, including World War 2 and Vietnam. Seriously, it\u2019s mad.<\/p>\n<p><b>Why didn\u2019t it happen? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>It was just too crazy to go ahead, even though Ridley Scott claimed it \u201d\u02dcworked very well\u2019. Cave\u2019s screenwriting career didn\u2019t end there, though: he went on to write<i> The Proposition, Lawless <\/i>and the upcoming remake of <i>The Crow<\/i>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Need to refresh your collection? <a title=\"Sell DVDs\" href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/entertainment\/sell-dvds\/\">Sell DVDs<\/a> with musicMagpie today! Just click the button below to get started.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/start-selling\/basket-media\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3533\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/DVD-button.png\" alt=\"DVD Button\" width=\"299\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getting a film made is difficult. You have to come up with a great idea, find funding and hope that the powers that be won\u2019t shut down your idea at the last minute. Every movie that gets made is a miracle (even the terrible ones). Unfortunately, the complexities of getting &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[1574,1577,1587,1647],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4567"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4573,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4567\/revisions\/4573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}