Summary
- Films often get shelved due to high costs and lengthy post-production processes, disappointing both industry insiders and fans.
- Even completed films can face the chopping block, with major studios like Warner Bros. Discovery canceling anticipated releases.
- Despite negative responses, decisions to shelve films can be final, like in the case of Batgirl and The Mothership.
Plans to release films are often scrapped early on in the filmmaking process, but they’re also sometimes shelved when a film is complete or nearly done. Studios opt out of releasing films for various reasons, but the most common are high costs and lengthy post-production processes. While it’s not an uncommon practice, it’s still unfortunate to see films get canceled. Many of the examples in which completed films were shelved at the last minute involve the cast and crew finding out with the rest of the world.
Recent infamous examples come from Warner Bros. Discovery, who called off the release of three anticipated films: Batgirl, Scoob! Holiday Haunt, and Coyote vs. Acme. The decision to cancel these films received negative responses from those in the industry and fans online. Other canceled films haven’t earned as much attention, but the circumstances surrounding the decision to pull their releases are unfortunate, and it shows that no film is too big to stay safe from being shelved.
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10 The Fantastic Four
A Movie Never Intended For Release
The Fantastic Four team made their film debut in 2005, but a previous attempt was made a few years earlier. Bernd Eichinger produced a low-budget film titled The Fantastic Four, with production beginning in 1992. Like the 2005 film, the ’90s version saw the origins of the titular team as they discovered their new powers. The Fantastic Four also included a confrontation with Doctor Doom, an old friend of The Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards. About a year after filming had wrapped, a release date was announced. The Fantastic Four was set to premiere at the beginning of 1994 at the Mall of America.
However, plans were suddenly changed. All promotional material was pulled and The Fantastic Four‘s cast was told to stop promotion. The film wound up not premiering and for a while, there was speculation about what happened. In 2005, Stan Lee said the film was only made so Eichinger would have the rights to the characters, and that it was never intended to be released. However, others claim that the low-budget quality risked ruining the franchise, so plans to release the film were scrapped. Despite there being no official release of The Fantastic Four, copies have circulated online and have been reviewed negatively.
9 Empires Of The Deep
Complications During Production Led To A Botched Film
Lots of money and talent were put together for Jon Jiang’s Empires of the Deep, but no amount of resources was enough to save the film and get it released in theaters. Empires of the Deep is an action-adventure film intended to be a U.S.-Chinese-produced version of Avatar where an underwater conflict occurs between mermaid kingdoms. Jiang, as a co-writer and producer of the film, reached out to multiple names in Hollywood, including a collaborator of James Cameron’s Randall Frakes, Catwoman director Pitof, and actress Sharon Stone.
Production was far from smooth sailing as many actors and crew members were paid late — and some were never paid — and there were conflicting feelings about what the tone of the movie should be. In the end, Empires of the Deep had three directors, went through multiple script re-writes, and spent a large sum of the budget on special effects that had a quality far removed from their price. There were dreams of starting a franchise similar to Star Wars, but with the initial 2011 release date having passed, it will probably never happen.
8 Black Water Transit
Legal Battles Prevented The Film From Being Released
At one point, Bruce Willis was set to produce Tony Kaye’s Black Water Transit. The 2009 film stars Laurence Fishburne and Karl Urban and follows the events that unfold after a shipping executive gets mixed up in an investigation of an illegal firearms dealer. The initial premise of Black Water Transit was described by Kaye as having comparable thrills to Die Hard, but there’s no confirmation as to what the final product ended up being.
Filming began in 2007 and by August 2008, a rough cut of the film was shown to Fishburne, who’d reportedly loved what he saw. Everything went according to plan until suspicious behavior from producer David Bergstein occurred, in which payments for the film never came. What quickly followed were continuous lawsuits between various producers and production companies. The ongoing legal battles ended with Bergstein’s arrest for fraud in 2018. By this point, Kaye too had moved, agreeing to direct another film, and Black Water Transit is now likely to never be released.
7 All-Star Weekend
Shelved Due To Its Comedic Content
Jamie Foxx’s All-Star Weekend has an entertaining premise, but a few troublesome details about its characters might be the reason why the film has never been released. With an ensemble cast made up of Eva Longoria, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Piven, and Foxx himself, All-Star Weekend follows the adventures of two NBA-obsessed friends after they win tickets to an All-Star Game.
All-Star Weekend was meant to be released in 2018 alongside the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, but post-production didn’t begin until early 2019. From that point on, new release dates were announced but then re-scheduled. It wasn’t until 2022 that Foxx confirmed the film was shelved. While promoting the 2022 film Day Shift, Foxx spoke with CinemaBlend and expressed the difficulties of getting the movie released in the present-day comedy landscape. Foxx had previously revealed Downey plays a Mexican man, leaving many to speculate that’s the issue he’s referring to, though no exact reason has been given.
6 The Mothership
The Lengthy Post-Production Process Was Unfeasible
In 2024, the cancelation of Netflix’s The Mothership continued a worrying streaming trend. Following Warner Bros. Discovery’s back-to-back cancelations of finished or near-completed films, Netflix scrapped the sci-fi adventure film starring Halle Berry. The Mothership follows Berry’s Sara Morse and her family after they discover an extraterrestrial object underneath their home, leading them to answers about a missing family member.
Principal photography wrapped in 2021, but the lengthy post-production process that followed was a key deciding factor in pulling the plug on the film. The inability to finish the movie on time is why The Mothership won’t be released, and, unlike other shelved films, the cast and crew agree with Netflix’s decision. Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, said that everyone agreed it was best not to move forward with the film. This means, there likely won’t be any efforts to save The Mothership or get another streaming service to pick it up.
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5 Scoob! Holiday Haunt
Theatrical Films Were Prioritized Over Streaming Releases
What was meant to be Michael Kurinsky’s directorial debut, the animated prequel, Scoob! Holiday Haunt, was shelved by Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022. Scoob! Holiday Haunt is meant to take place before the 2020 film, Scoob! The holiday-themed movie placed the gang of friends at a holiday resort when they were young. It’s meant to be a time celebrating Scooby-Doo’s first Christmas, but like any other Scooby-Doo tale, things go awry when ghosts are discovered to be haunting the resort.
Scoob! Holiday Haunt had strong talent attached to its film with actors like Iain Armitage, Ariana Greenblatt, and Mckenna Grace voicing three of Scooby-Doo‘s iconic main characters. The film was nearly finished when its cancelation was announced in August 2022, as Warner Bros. Discovery was looking to cut down costs and prioritize theatrical releases over streaming. However, Kurinsky explained the movie, having already been paid for, was finished anyway (via Variety). Kurinsky says, “At the end of the day, I don’t care why and how it got finished. I’m glad it got finished because so many people worked so hard to make something so beautiful and really great.”
4 Hippie Hippie Shake
Filming Delays And Creative Differences Halted The Film
Signs of Hippie Hippie Shake‘s fate began to show early on in the pre-production phase. Hippie Hippie Shake, based on Richard Neville’s memoir, tells the story of Neville’s time with Oz magazine in the 1960s and the famous trial surrounding the publication of an obscene issue. Cillian Murphy led Hippie Hippie Shake as Neville and Sienna Miller played Louise Ferrier, his girlfriend. Hippie Hippie Shake was delayed multiple times, and it wasn’t until 2007 that production began.
Director Beeban Kidron took on the film, but during post-production in 2009, he quit, citing creative differences as his reasoning. As a result, the scheduled release in 2010 never happened. However, a few advanced screenings were held and reviews of the film were generally positive. None of the reviews stated Hippie Hippie Shake was a ground-breaking drama, but the cast’s performances, particularly Miller’s, were praised. Additionally, Hippie Hippie Shake seemed to capture the essence of the ’60s well, but it wasn’t enough to have people demanding the film be released.
3 Coyote Vs. Acme
The Third Film Shelved By Warner Bros.
Based on an article in The New Yorker, Coyote vs. Acme is a live-action and animation hybrid that follows Wile E. Coyote’s legal battle with Acme Corporation. The comedy film drew inspiration from Who Framed Roger Rabbit for its mix of live-action and animation, and it has Will Forte and John Cena leading as the two opposing lawyers. In November 2023, it was announced by Warner Bros. that the film would not be released, despite it being completed.
In response, hashtags began trending online and famous voices within the industry took to social media to criticize the decision, including Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Regardless of Coyote vs. Acme‘s quality as a film, much of the frustration came as a result of it being the third completed film to be shelved by Warner Bros. However, Coyote vs. Acme did become available for other companies to purchase, but none of the bids from Netflix or Paramount have been accepted. As of now, the final fate of Coyote vs. Acme remains undetermined.
2 Big Bug Man
Marlon Brando’s Last Film Work
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Marlon Brando’s filmography is full of memorable films with legacies that continue to this day, including A Streetcar Named Desire and The Godfather. The last film starring Brando was Big Bug Man, an animated TV film. Big Bug Man was written and directed by Bob Bendetson, a writer on shows like Home Improvement and The Simpsons, and starred Brendan Fraser as well. Not much is known about the film, other than it follows a man who was bitten by bugs and gained special abilities.
Brando was meant to voice a character named Nicholas Dunderbeck, but requested to voice Mrs. Sour instead, an old woman who runs a candy company. Brando had fun and dressed the part during the recordings. Unfortunately, shortly after Brando recorded his lines in 2004, he passed away as a result of ongoing health issues. A release date for Big Bug Man was set for sometime in 2006, but it kept getting pushed back, and the film was never released.
1 Batgirl
Cut To Save Money And Focus On Theatrical Releases
Made for HBO Max, Batgirl had a star-studded cast with Leslie Grace as the eponymous hero, J. K. Simmons, Brendan Fraser, and Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne. Batgirl was meant to be an addition to the DC Extended Universe and had an initial release year of 2022. However, in August of that year, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that they would not be moving forward with the film. The reason as to why Batgirl would not be released had to do with cost-saving measures and a focus on theatrical releases.
Other sources reported the reason for Batgirl‘s cancelation had to do with poor test screenings. However, the screenings were said to be early versions of the film and any negative reactions to its quality had nothing to do with the potential of its end product. Still, the budget has been confirmed as the main reason for Batgirl‘s cancelation. The film’s budget increased by $20 million more than what it started with, making Batgirl one of the most expensive canceled movies (via Variety).