The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made [Paperback]

David Hughes (Author), Harry Knowles (Afterword), H. R. Giger (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2002

Steven Spielberg's sci-fi horror movie Night Skies. David Lynch's Ronnie Rocket. Terry Gilliam's Watchmen. Philip Kaufman's Star Trek: Planet of the Titans. Ridley Scott's I Am Legend. Tim Burton's Superman Lives. These are just some of the legendary unmade films covered by this groundbreaking book. Drawing on dozens of exclusive new interviews with the writers, designers, and directors involved, David Hughes charts the tortuous stories of these films and reveals the fascinating details of what might have been.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's a muted celebration and a "melancholy examination" of what might have been in movie buff David Hughes's (The Complete Kubrick) The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made. In brief, slap-happily titled chapters (Twin Freaks; Alienated; Lights, Cameron, No "Action!") Hughes explains David Lynch's difficulties with movie financing, how a Spielberg project called Night Skies became the genesis for both E.T. and Poltergeist and why the Six Million Dollar Man never made it to the silver screen. Illus.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

From Tim Burton's Superman Lives to Steven Spielberg's Night Skies, the litany of uncompleted films presented here lends credence to the notion of Hollywood as a city of broken dreams. Hughes (The Complete Kubrick) draws on numerous exclusive new interviews with the disappointed filmmakers for this compendium of good intentions gone awry. Not surprisingly, the intricate machinations of business and financing tend to play the primary role in the demise of promising projects, together with healthy doses of petty bickering and infighting. Whether a prospective film might have turned out to be great cinema is usually a minor consideration. For instance, the proposed Terminator 3 faded away largely because the legal rights to produce the film were bogged down with the failing production company responsible for Terminator 2, writer-director James Cameron's interest was drifting away to other ventures, and Arnold Schwarzenegger insisted that he would not do another Terminator without Cameron. Serious sf fans and those fascinated by the inner workings of the film industry will be intrigued by the complexity of events that thwart these often promising projects. Recommended for academic libraries. Richard W. Grefrath, Univ. of Nevada Lib., Reno
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press (April 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556524498
• ISBN-13: 978-1556524493
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,458,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another brilliant book by David Hughes January 14, 2004

By Not American

Format:Paperback

Well, Hughes has done it again. He has written a book that appeals to students of science fiction (of all types, not just films), movies, history, economics, you name it - and has made it completely entertaining and utterly un-putdownable at the same time. Fans of his earlier book on David Lynch will appreciate the chapter on Lynch's two "lost" movies, Ronnie Rocket and One Saliva Bubble.
Also, even though this book is only a couple of years old, it is interesting to see what has happened with some of these projects. For instance, Spider Man and Terminator 3 have already been released, Thunderbirds and Alien vs Predator are being filmed right now (Jan 2004), and apparently I Am Legend and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy are being cast and actually being made (for sure this time!). I think this proves how fascinating this book is - with any other writing the fact that you are reading about Terminator 3 as a "dead" or "possible future" product would ruin the reading experience. With this book, though, it is still just as fascinating to see why the projects took so long to come to fruition.
So if you have any interest in films, art history, behind the scenes Hollywood gossip, or just a fascinating read, pick up this book NOW. Then go on to read his David Lynch bio, and everything else this man has written. I GUARANTEE you won't be disappointed.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How Hollywood keeps on failing to make a good Sci - Fi movie September 19, 2002

By "prof_von_morgan"

Format:Paperback

A must for all Sci-Fi and film fans (like myself!). I'd always wondered why some of the greatest Sci-Fi stories had never made it to the silver screen and why the one that had were often very disappointing; after reading this book, I now know why!!!

Not only due to you get all the facts and figure regarding the featured "never made" movies, this book lets inside the hearts and mind of the people that tried their hardest to make these movies happen and the studio management idiots that stopped them!

Like movies? Like Sci-Fi books? Want to know why your favourite stories never made it to celluloid? Read this book and find out!

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars This isn't a bad book, but... September 10, 2002

By Taed Wynnell

Format:Paperback

This isn't a bad book, but it's namesake _The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made_ does a far better job at similar material. There is almost no overlap between the two books, despite the fact that the former book does cover a good deal of science fiction.

Where I think this book fails most is its approach. It's spends a lot of time dealing with production notes on the movies that were made instead (for example, Alien3), instead of the movie that wasn't made (Aliens vs. Predator). Furthermore, it never gets to the key issue -- why would this particular unmade movie have been great?

So, I'd recommend this book only as a follow-on if you've already read the "original".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A little outdated but still interesting November 10, 2009

By J. Hartmann

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Well, 12 out of the 19 movies covered have since been made! The book still allows an interesting, and in some cases facinating, peek behind the curtain to learn how these films were developed. The chapter on Star Trek sequels feels a bit out of place as it ventures way beyond the one version that could have been and explores in great detail how all the other TEN films got greenlit. Also a lot of the information in the book stems from other books and magazines. But it's still a good compilation and a worthy read for all who are interested in how Hollywood works.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The great version has still never been written May 23, 2009

By Robert J. Karol

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

First, I should say this book does a good job of tracing the torturous path to production these films followed. Hughes has a very pleasant style and the book never turns into a hatchet job against the producers, actors or directors named.

However, this book is not essential or even that necessary. While it is hardly Hughes' fault that many of the movies or properties covered in this book have been filmed in the last few years (even if not in the forms he covered in his book), he does have a problem making the material interesting. For every tidbit about the Star Trek cast intriguing against producers or the ridiculous problems besetting Island of Dr. Moreau, there are twenty vague quotes from producers about why they asked for a new draft or a synopsis of minor changes from draft to draft.

And though it is commendable that Hughes tries to avoid playing favorites, he rarely makes any judgements or states his opinion. Most of the time, he is fine with just setting down the quotes and differing opinions of different parties without sifting through them or analyzing them. Many times, the book degenerates into a case of "he said/ she said". Given Hughes' experience with the industry, shouldn't he be able to offer some sort of opinion?

And the closer to the present that Hughes gets, the more he and his sources pull punches, playing coy about the identities of misbehaving screenwriters and producers. I understand that the parties involved want to protect their careers, but then why write this book? At points, the book has all the bite of a movie magazine puff piece. For the comic book properties especially, comic book websites and magazines (including Wizard) have frequently covered the territory in more depth and in more interesting ways.

H.R.... Giger's foreword, which discusses the difficulties collaborating with film-makers a continent away and his disappointment with the way his designs are handled, presents a better idea of the compromises and problems of the creative process and the ways it personally effects the parties involved than most of the book. And he does it without any cattiness or bile.

So, if you really want to know more about the specific movies covered in this book, you might enjoy it. But the book is nowhere as definitive or exciting as it pretends to be. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining catalog of lost sci-fi films November 27, 2008

By Mark Klobas VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

As a longtime film fan, one of the things that has always intrigued me is the uncompleted film project, the idea that for some reason stalls out and never makes it to fruition. This fascination is what made David Hughes's book such an interesting read for me. Using a mixture of firsthand interviews and exploitation of fan and film literature he chronicles numerous projects, drafts, and proposals for science fiction movies. While many of the projects he chronicles never saw the silver screen, he also describes some of the abandoned drafts and visions for some of the most enduring franchises of the genre, such as the Star Trek and "Alien" series.

Some of his chapters will be heart-breaking for fans of the novels and franchises that underwent the process, yet reading the book offers insight into the convoluted process of film making. Reading it can often be saddening, as Hughes often succeeds in firing the imagination with description of unrealized projects that could have been breathtaking. Though true fans of these various franchises may be familiar with many of details Hughes describes, the book serves as a good overall account of Hollywood's often awkward relationship with the genre and a nice gift for the sci-fi film fan in your life.