The Greatest Movies You'll Never See : Unseen Masterpieces by the World's Greatest Directors

What could stop Steven Spielberg from making a movie about aliens? Who pulled the plug on Alfred Hitchcocks Kaleidoscope? Why did Orson Welles say he had wasted the greater part of his life? What prevented David Lynchs Ronnie Rocket from getting off the ground? All is revealed in The Greatest Movies Youll Never See.

A movie can boast a legendary director, a superlative script, and the hottest stars, but studio jitters, spiraling budgets, on-set clashes, and overreaching ambition can all conspire to keep it from being made. Even events off-set can conspire to stop the mightiest movies in their tracks. Witness the collapse of Francis Ford Coppolas Megalopolis in the aftermath of 9/11, or the demise of Somethings Got to Give following the mysterious death of Marilyn Monroe (leaving the most famous sequence in the history of unmade movies). In exhaustive detail, this book untangles the misfortune, quarrels, and twists of fate that doomed some of the greatest movies youll never see.

With doyens of directing from Kubrick to the Coen Brothers and stars from Salvador Dali to the Sex Pistols, the eye-opening entries in The Greatest Movies Youll Never See unravel just why unmade masterpieces are stuck in development hell and assess the chances of them ever being completed and released. Each ill-fated workfrom Charlie Chaplins pet project on Napoleon to David Finchers foray into sex and mutationis examined in an in-depth essay. Selected entries boast script extracts, test footage frames, and concept art. Sidebars shine a spotlight on related movies, stars, and sources. Acclaimed designers and illustrators have executed spectacular original poster artworkloyal to the vision of each original directorto accompany each of the unmade films.