Reel Trouble: 11 Unfinished and Unreleased Films

In Hollywood, it's widely believed that no one intentionally creates a bad movie. Similarly, no one begins a movie with the intention of abandoning it. However, the film industry is filled with stories of directors and studios that couldn’t complete their projects. A notable example is Orson Welles, whose film The Other Side of the Wind remained unfinished for years until his friend and fellow director Peter Bogdanovich completed it, eventually debuting on Netflix in 2018.

Explore some other instances of films that were left incomplete, unreleased, or otherwise never made it to the screen.

1. Revenge of the Nerds

The 1984 classic Revenge of the Nerds is remembered as a wild comedy about a group of fraternity brothers who torment the intellectual underdogs at the fictional Adams College, with a character named “Booger” playing a key role in the titular revenge. Few know that a remake began filming in 2006 but was abruptly stopped. Starring Adam Brody (The O.C.) and Jenna Dewan, and directed by Kyle Newman (2009’s Fanboys), the project faced early setbacks. Emory University objected to the script, forcing a last-minute location change. After two weeks of shooting, Fox Atomic executives deemed the film too “small-scale” and halted production. The cast and crew were paid, and the project was abandoned. Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) is now set to produce a new remake featuring Keith Lucas and Kenny Lucas (2014’s 22 Jump Street).

2. Empires of the Deep

Touted as China’s answer to James Cameron’s Avatar (2009), Empires of the Deep is perhaps the most costly film never to be released. The story revolves around a war between underwater realms featuring mermaids and crabs. This effects-driven 3D project cycled through four directors, including Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner, and saw its budget soar to $130 million, largely funded by real estate tycoon Jon Jiang, who also penned the script. The result was a lackluster trailer hinting at a subpar production. Screened once in North America in 2014, it received a lukewarm response. Jiang later told Atavist writer Mitch Moxley that additional funds were needed to complete the effects, but as of 2016, the film remains unfinished.

3. The American

Director J. Stuart Blackton told the press that The American, also known as The Flag Maker, was inspired by a suggestion from President (and Blackton's neighbor) Theodore Roosevelt. This silent Western, though filmed, never saw a release. It utilized an innovative technique called Natural Vision, an early widescreen format, which ultimately led to its downfall. Without a Natural Vision projector on set, Blackton had to use a second, standard camera to review footage. When the film was finally screened, the widescreen effect failed to impress, with critics labeling it “poorly made.” There’s no evidence it was ever commercially distributed.

Blackton, a pioneering filmmaker known for his early work in animated features, suffered financial losses during the 1929 stock market crash. He died in 1941 after being struck by a car.

4. Bogart Slept Here

Robert De Niro, often hailed as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, was dismissed from Bogart Slept Here in 1975. The film, a comedic drama directed by Mike Nichols and written by Neil Simon, cast De Niro as an actor who unexpectedly rises to fame, with Marsha Mason as his wife. Fresh off the intense psychological drama Taxi Driver (1976), De Niro struggled to connect with Simon’s script. Nichols advised Warner Bros. to replace him, leaving De Niro furious. When no replacement was found, the project was abandoned. Parts of the script were later adapted into Simon’s The Goodbye Girl (1977), starring Mason and Richard Dreyfuss.

5. Divine Rapture

A film starring Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando, and Debra Winger seemed like a guaranteed success. However, Divine Rapture, filmed in 1995, faced insurmountable challenges. Shot on the Irish island of Ballycotton, the movie centered on a woman named Mary (Winger) who seemingly “returns” from the dead during her funeral, only to reveal she had suffered a heart issue. Brando played a priest, while Depp portrayed a journalist investigating the incident. After two weeks of filming, the production company, CineFin, encountered legal troubles. When Winger’s agent sought her payment, they discovered CineFin’s address was a parking lot.

CineFin executives insisted they required documentation from Orion Pictures, the distributor, to continue. The project never resumed, though Brando secured his $1 million upfront fee.

6. The Overcoat

While directors like Stanley Kubrick are known for their perfectionism, Russian animator Yuri Norstein surpasses even Kubrick in dedication. Norstein has spent 40 years working on The Overcoat, based on Nikolai Gogol’s short story about a man’s fixation on a coat. The film uses hand-drawn animation layered on glass panels, a meticulous process that yielded only 20 minutes of footage in its first two decades. This slow progress led to a 2021 documentary, Making the Overcoat, which showcases some of the animation. The trailer for the documentary offers a glimpse into Norstein’s unfinished masterpiece.

7. Hippie Hippie Shake

Shot in 2007 with a stellar cast featuring Cillian Murphy and Sienna Miller, Hippie Hippie Shake details the rise of the counterculture magazine Oz in the 1960s. Murphy portrayed Oz co-founder Richard Neville, while Miller played his girlfriend, Louise Ferrier. Director Beeban Kidron and screenwriter Lee Hall both exited the project before its completion. The exact reasons remain unclear, though Miller hinted that tax disputes between the US and UK made it unprofitable for distributor Universal to release the film.

8. The Shadow King

Helmed by Henry Selick (2009’s Coraline), The Shadow King promised a darkly comedic story about a boy named Hap Dagger, who discovers he can summon shadow creatures with his hands and must battle a monster using his newfound powers. It was set to be Pixar’s first stop-motion animation project. However, creative differences between Selick and Disney halted production midway. Selick later tried to revive the project with German company K5 International, but updates have been scarce since 2013.

9. The Freak

Planned as the final project of silent film legend Charlie Chaplin, The Freak never moved beyond pre-production due to Chaplin’s passing in 1977. However, the concept held immense promise. The film was to follow Serapha, a winged woman whose unique condition is exploited for profit. Chaplin envisioned his daughter, Victoria Chaplin, in the lead role and spent ten years developing the script, storyboards, and innovative visual effects. He also planned to make a cameo appearance.

10. Grizzly II: Revenge

Shot in Hungary and featuring future icons Charlie Sheen, Laura Dern, and George Clooney, this sequel to 1976’s Grizzly had the potential to become a cult classic. The trio plays friends attending a music festival who encounter a deadly grizzly bear. Despite its intriguing premise, the film faced numerous setbacks, including budget issues that left most of the bear attack effects incomplete. At one point, the 8-foot animatronic bear even went missing.

The film was eventually trimmed to a mere 68 minutes and shelved for nearly four decades. In 2021, producer Suzanne C. Nagy and GBGB International revived the project, releasing it straight-to-video and in drive-ins. While the movie still lacks the bear attack scenes originally planned, Nagy described it as “watchable.”

11. The Waterman Movie

Prior to his passing in 2010, Leslie Nielsen, celebrated for his deadpan performance as Frank Drebin in the The Naked Gun series, completed a voice role for The Waterman Movie. Directed by Bryan Waterman, this Flash-animated comedy cast Nielsen as Ready Espanoza, a clumsy adventurer. However, financial limitations left the project with just two minutes of completed animation.