Joel Schumacher's unrealized projects
The following is a list of unproduced Joel Schumacher projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, film director Joel Schumacher (1939–2020) had worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.
1970s
[edit]A Chorus Line
[edit]In mid-1979, Schumacher was hired by Universal Pictures to write and direct A Chorus Line, after having just completed his first feature, The Incredible Shrinking Woman. To market the film, Universal enlisted producer Allan Carr, who hired Marvin Hamlisch to write several new songs for the film and asked John Travolta to play the character Zack. Creative differences with Carr soon arose when Schumacher wanted the film to feature extensive flashbacks of the dancers as children, to dramatize the moment when they heard the call of the stage. In early 1980, Universal sold the rights to A Chorus Line to PolyGram Pictures, and the film was made by Richard Attenborough.[1]
1980s
[edit]Bright Lights, Big City
[edit]1990s
[edit]The Lost Girls
[edit]Final Analysis
[edit]And the Band Played On
[edit]On October 1, 1991, the Los Angeles Times reported that Schumacher would no longer be directing the TV docudrama And the Band Played On, which was adapted from Randy Shilts's 1987 novel.[2] Roger Spottiswoode took his place and the film aired in 1993.[3]
The Devil's Advocate
[edit]The Crowded Room
[edit]On November 5, 1995, Schumacher was hired to direct the movie adaptation of Daniel Keyes's novel The Minds of Billy Milligan entitled The Crowded Room. Eventually Schumacher left the project due to his commitment to Batman & Robin.[4] On October 13, 2004, Schumacher was again attached as director of the project but soon left. An anthology television series of the novel aired on Apple TV+ in 2023, written by Akiva Goldsman who had written both Batman Forever and Batman & Robin for Schumacher.[5][6]
Batman Unchained
[edit]Gossip
[edit]On January 9, 1997, it was revealed that Schumacher was stepping down as director of the psychological thriller film Gossip for Warner Bros., opting instead to just produce.[7]
Popcorn
[edit]In place of Gossip, Schumacher signed on to direct an adaptation of Ben Elton's novel Popcorn for Warner Bros., with Elton writing the script. The film was expected go forward later in September that year, following Schumacher's promotional obligations for Batman & Robin.[7]
The Runaway Jury
[edit]On July 23, 1997, Schumacher dropped out as director of the film adaptation of John Grisham's novel The Runaway Jury, which became the film of the same name by Gary Fleder.[8]
Dreamgirls
[edit]The Apartment remake
[edit]On February 24, 1999, Schumacher was hired to direct the remake of Gilles Mimouni's 1996 film The Apartment for Paramount Pictures and Lakeshore Entertainment. Schumacher later left the project, which became Wicker Park, directed by Paul McGuigan.[9]
2000s
[edit]Sleepwalker remake
[edit]Mr. & Mrs. Smith
[edit]On January 7, 2002, it was indicated in Variety that Schumacher had circled directing Simon Kinberg's NYU thesis script Mr. and Mrs. Smith at Regency Enterprises.[10] The film was ultimately greenlit for production with Doug Liman attached as director, and released in 2005.
On the Road
[edit]On February 24, 2002, Schumacher was hired by Francis Ford Coppola to adapt Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road with Billy Crudup as Sal Paradise and Colin Farrell as Dean Moriarty. Walter Salles ultimately directed the 2012 adaptation.[11][12]
A Star Is Born remake
[edit]On September 27, 2002, Schumacher was attached to remake A Star Is Born, with Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez attached to play the leads for Warner Bros.[13] Bradley Cooper would later direct a separate production of a fourth remake in 2018.
Brokeback Mountain
[edit]Inland Saints
[edit]On April 17, 2007, Schumacher was attached to direct Kurt Sutter's supernatural urban crime drama Inland Saints for Paramount Pictures.[14] On November 17, 2008, Mark Swift and Damian Shannon was attached to rewrite Inland Saints to reflect Schumacher's post-apocalyptic, action horror direction for the film.[15] There were no further developments since then.
Breaking News remake
[edit]On July 25, 2007, Schumacher was in talks to direct an American remake of Johnnie To's action crime thriller Breaking News for Paramount Vantage.[16]
2010s
[edit]The Hive
[edit]On April 25, 2011, Schumacher was attached to direct Richard D'Ovidio's suspense thriller The Hive for Troika Pictures, which eventually became Brad Anderson's The Call.[17]
The Big Girls TV pilot
[edit]On June 27, 2011, Schumacher was in talks to direct the pilot of Adam Mazer's television adaptation of the Susanna Moore novel The Big Girls for HBO, which didn't materialize.[18]
Offers
[edit]On October 13, 2011, Schumacher opened up about rejecting offers to direct sequels to his films St. Elmo's Fire, The Lost Boys and Flatliners, with the latter being the only materialized project, albeit without the involvement of Schumacher.[19]
References
[edit]- ^ Freedman, Samuel G. (November 11, 1984). "'CHORUS LINE' VS. HOLLYWOOD-A SAGA". The New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- ^ Michaelson, Judith (October 1, 1991). "Schumacher won't direct 'Band Played On'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Fleming, Charles (October 21, 1992). "Spottiswoode finally getting 'Band' to play". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Variety Staff (November 5, 1995). "Schumacher seeks 'Room' in sked, 'West'-ward ho!". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (October 13, 2004). "Schumacher rents 'Room'". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (April 8, 2021). "Tom Holland to Star in Apple Mental Illness Anthology From Akiva Goldsman". The Hollywood Reporter. PMRC. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
- ^ a b Busch, Anita (January 9, 1997). "Schumacher on 'Popcorn'". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Variety Staff (February 24, 1997). "Schumacher, Connery off Grisham's 'Jury'". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Hindes, Andrew (February 24, 1999). "Schumacher in 'Apartment'". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (January 7, 2002). "It's all Greek to Sommers". Variety. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
- ^ Andrea R. Vaucher; Dana Harris (February 24, 2002). "Zoetrope, Myriad plan 3 pics". Variety. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ Mottram, James (September 12, 2008). "The long and grinding story of On The Road". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2011-01-02. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Downey, Ryan (September 27, 2002). "Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith Wanted For Schumacher's 'Star Is Born' Remake". MTV News. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (April 17, 2007). "'Saints' marching at Paramount". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Siegel, Tatiana (November 17, 2008). "New vision for Schumacher's 'Saints'". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Kit, Borys (July 25, 2007). "Paramount Vantage, Schumacher in 'News' biz". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Abrams, Rachel (April 25, 2011). "'Hive' mind for Troika". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Rose, Lacey (June 27, 2011). "Adam Mazer Inks Deal to Pen HBO's 'Big Girls' Pilot". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ Schutte, Lauren (October 13, 2011). "Joel Schumacher Reveals 'Batman' Regrets". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
