Turns out it's quite a lot of trouble to make a movie. Especially a big one, with a massive budget and lots of famous people in it. So it's perhaps not that surprising that plenty of movies that get announced never make it to the multiplex.
There are some, though, which hang around like a bad smell, with stars dropping out due to scheduling conflicts, directors having creative differences with producers, and script re-writes going round and round forever. Here are 11 major movies trapped in development hell.
1. The Crow
This remake of Alex Proyas's 1994 gothic superhero film has been on the brink of being made for what seems like the whole of time. It was optioned in 2008, and a range of directors have been attached including Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and F Javier Gutierrez, with Jack Huston and Luke Evans both signed on to star at various points.
The latest incarnation has Corin Hardy down to direct with Jason Momoa as tragic hero Eric Draven, and is currently titled The Crow Reborn. Maybe this time it'll happen? We'll believe it when we see it.
2. Akira
This live action version of the Japanese Manga has been on the slate since Warner optioned it in 2002. A whole range of directors and writers have been attached and rumoured including Stephen Norrington, the Hughes Brothers, Christopher Nolan, George Miller, Jaume Collet-Serra, Jordan Peele and most recently Taika Waititi.
Meanwhile, pretty much everyone in Hollywood has been rumoured/considered for the lead roles including Justin Timberlake, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine, Joaquin Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield, James McAvoy, Charlie Hunnam, Toby Kebbell and Zac Efron. All of whom are conspicuously not Japanese, attracting accusations of white-washing which have contributed to the project's delay.
3. Gambit
Portrayed by Taylor Kitsch in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Fox announced yonks ago that sleazy Creole thief Gambit would be the next of the X-Men to get a standalone. But despite the success of Deadpool (who we also first met in Wolverine), Gambit just hasn't managed to get off the ground.
Channing Tatum is still attached to the role, with X-overseers Simon Kinberg and Lauren Shuler Donner producing, but no director is currently attached after the most recent one, Doug Liman, dropped out.
Related: Gambit timeline: What the hell is happening to Channing Tatum's X-Men spinoff?
4. Flashpoint
We're pretty sure that the solo Flash film will make it out eventually. It has its star in Justice League's Ezra Miller, all ready to go. What it doesn't currently have is a director, Warner Bros already having gained and lost two – Seth Grahame-Smith and Rick Famuyiwa.
Famuyiwa dropped out in October 2016, and despite the occasional rumour of which directors are being considered, nothing has been announced since. Oh, and did we mention that it doesn't have a release date either?
5. The Sandman
An adaptation of Neil Gaiman's career-making fantasy comic, The Sandman has been on some distant corner of the table since way back in the mid-'90s (not long after the original series concluded). Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary was originally attached to direct the movie before it descended the spiral into development hell. Adapting an epic tale of gods, monsters and the king of dreams isn't easy, apparently.
Gaiman has been scathing about the scripts that showed up in the interim, but things were looking up as of 2013, when Joseph Gordon-Levitt signed on to apparently produce, direct and star in the movie. But by 2016 he was out over 'creative differences', and most recently, Gaiman said that it should definitely be a "classy" TV show instead. If it ever gets made, that is.
6. Beetlejuice 2
It was announced that work would begin on a script for a sequel featuring the human exorcist back in 2011, with Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg writing. Director Tim Burton and stars Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder were ostensibly on board, giving various hints and announcements in interviews though the years.
There's still no concrete progress on this, though – and given that Burton hasn't made a great film in a while, we're thinking this one might be better off left alone.
7. Bill and Ted 3
The first whispers of a third Bill & Ted movie came courtesy of Keanu Reeves in 2010, a mere 19 years after Bogus Journey was released.
Now, 26 years after he and Alex Winter last played the time-travelling dolts, a mooted early 2017 shooting date has been and gone. Give it a few more decades and Hollywood might come up with something original instead.
8. The Last of Us
Unlike your average video game, much-loved survival horror The Last of Us seems like a shoo-in for a movie adaptation thanks to its cinematic, character-driven style. And indeed, Screen Gems announced in 2014 that it had one in development with the game's creator Neil Druckmann working on a script and Sam Raimi producing.
But by 2016 Raimi was reporting a "standstill" between the studio and Druckmann. Or maybe someone had realised that the zombie movie genre needs to rest for a while alongside the romantic vampire dramas of the early '10s.
9. Logan's Run
Originally announced back in 2004, this remake of the 1976 dystopian sci-fi – where citizens are forced to be terminated as soon as they reach age 30 – had Bryan Singer attached and later Joseph Kosinski, before they both dropped out.
Then in 2011 the movie was suddenly a hot property that was DEFINITELY HAPPENING, with new best friends Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn attached to star and direct after the pair's success with Drive. Both have now abandoned the project – though it's STILL not officially dead, with Hercules writer Ryan Condal working on a new script as of last year.
10. Gremlins 3
It's been optioned since 2013, but there's still no release date, no director and no stars. However, as of August this year, there is, apparently, a script for the long-awaited third part of the satirical creature series, and it's 'as twisted and dark as anything'.
Carl Ellsworth, who wrote Disturbia, has penned the screenplay and Zach Galligan, who starred in the original two movies, is insistent that the third will definitely be a sequel and not a remake.
If it ever gets off the ground, expect those critters to pop up around Christmas – which Christmas is anyone's guess.
11. Sherlock Holmes 3
Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr's two Sherlock Holmes movies were both box office hits, so a third outing was a no-brainer for Warner Bros. Unfortunately, Downey has only starred in one non-Iron Man role since Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was released in 2011.
Work on the script for the third film has apparently slowed to a crawl, but with Downey expected to bow out of the MCU after Avengers 4 and Ritchie probably not busy on the sequel to his flop King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, maybe it will get back on track.
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