It takes a lot of hard work and good luck to get a movie made, but all of that can be
ruined in an instant with just one bad decision.
Sometimes it doesn't matter how good the story is or how famous the stars are, because a
single moment of stupidity can wash it all away.
Here's a look at some promising movies that were cancelled because of a really dumb decision.
At the Mountains of Madness
The masterwork of horror and science-fiction author H.P.
Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness has long been a passion project for horror auteur
Guillermo del Toro.
And del Toro seems like the perfect fit for the tale of a group of scientists who discover
ancient, terrifyingly powerful entities in Antarctica.
Unfortunately, despite James Cameron producing and interest from Tom Cruise, del Toro couldn't
get funding from Universal because he told them it would be R-rated, meaning the teens
who usually flock to horror movies wouldn't be able to see it.
The project was cancelled, and del Toro later said he "should have lied" to executives and
told them that At the Mountains of Madness would be PG-13.
Halo
There were a lot of dumb decisions that led to the demise of the proposed Halo movie,
mostly because Microsoft apparently had no idea how Hollywood works.
They demanded a huge cut of profits and forced studios to jump through hoops to even have
a chance to read the script.
Plus, they wouldn't let Sony bid on the film at all — because Sony's PlayStation is one
of the Microsoft Xbox's chief video game console competitors.
Despite all that nonsense, Fox and Universal were both still interested and teamed up.
But then they made the final dumb decision in this whole dumb process when Universal
hired up and comer Neill Blomkamp to direct.
Blomkamp was a fan of the game with a distinct artistic vision.
The problem is, only Universal wanted him.
Both Fox and Microsoft reportedly hated what he was doing, wanting instead to make what
the director called a "generic, boring film — something like G.I.
Joe or some crap like that."
Ultimately, the only thing that came of it was some test footage that teases the great
Halo movie that could have been.
And Blomkamp?
He went on to make District 9 instead.
Great job, Microsoft!
Uncle Tom's Fairy Tales
In 1968, Richard Pryor wrote and starred in an extremely dark, socially conscious movie
with the intentionally controversial title Uncle Tom's Fairy Tales.
Pryor supposedly became so obsessed with making the film, his wife reportedly "destroyed the
negative of the then still unfinished movie in a fit a rage."
Nearly four decades later, another print of the film emerged thanks to director Penelope
Spheeris, but so far it hasn't been released either for legal reasons.
Pyongyang
Based on Guy Delisle's intense graphic novel about the struggles of living under the totalitarian
regime in North Korea, Pyongyang was supposed to start shooting in early 2015 with Steve
Carell in the lead role and Gore Verbinksi as director.
Then Sony decided to release The Interview in 2014.
That reportedly led to the infamous hack of the Sony servers in retaliation, not to mention
bomb threats against theaters that screened The Interview.
New Regency decided Pyongyang wasn't worth the hassle and canceled the film entirely.
The Beatles' version of The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R.
Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings books rank among the most beloved novels of all time.
First published as three separate volumes in 1954, it took until 2001 for Peter Jackson's
epic, live-action adaptation to hit movie theaters.
But there was an earlier version proposed in the 1960s — and it would have starred
The Beatles.
Yeah.
Those Beatles.
Besides doing a brand new double-album soundtrack, the Beatles were set to star in the live action
adaptation, with Paul McCartney as Frodo, Ringo Starr as Samwise, George Harrison as
Gandalf, and John Lennon as Gollum.
Unfortunately, Tolkien wasn't a Beatles fan, and he decided to nix the idea.
Otherwise both music and cinematic history would have been completely different… and
much, much weirder.
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