Doug Liman's unrealized projects

The following is a list of unproduced Doug Liman projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American filmmaker Doug Liman has worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.

Sonny Bright
On November 7, 1999, Liman was set to direct Wayne Rice and Gina Goldman’s spec screenplay Sonny Bright with the Farrelly Brothers attached as producers.

Luna Park
On November 27, 2007, Liman was set to direct an untitled science fiction film for DreamWorks Pictures about a lunar expedition, with Jake Gyllenhaal set to star. On June 6, 2011, it was announced that the film, now titled Luna, would be co-financed by New Regency and Skydance Media for Paramount Pictures, with Simon Kinberg joining the project as a writer and producer. On September 9, 2015, Tom Cruise signed on to star in the film, which was now titled Luna Park.

Attica
On February 16, 2010, Liman was set to direct Geoffrey S. Fletcher's screenplay Attica with Liman producing the movie with Dave Bartis, Elloit Abbott, & Avram Ludwig.

The Three Musketeers film
On May 7, 2010, Liman was set to direct a film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's novel The Three Musketeers with Peter Straughan and Bridget O'Connor writing the screenplay and Lionel Wigram producing for Warner Bros. Pictures, but it was canceled that August, due to Paul W. S. Anderson's competing 2011 adaptation; Liman would ultimately direct the All You Need is Kill adaptation, Edge of Tomorrow, instead.

The Last of the Tribe
On July 13, 2010, Liman was set to direct Monte Reel's non-fiction novel The Last of the Tribe: The Epic Quest to Save a Lone Man in the Amazon with Liman producing with Dave Bartis, Ed Saxon, Steve Schwartz, and Paula Mae Schwartz. On April 15, 2015, it was announced that Paul Haggis had entered talks to direct the project, with Liman now only involved as a producer.

The Osterman Weekend reboot
On September 3, 2010, Liman was set to produce a film adaptation of Robert Ludlum's novel The Osterman Weekend with Jesse Wigutow writing the screenplay and Peter Davis, Simon Kinberg, Jeffrey Weiner, and Henry Morrison producing for Summit Entertainment, On February 28, 2012, it was announced that Brian Kirk had entered talks to direct the project, but on May 18, 2016, the adaptation was likely incorporated into a planned shared universe of Ludlum adaptations for Universal Pictures, Dwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions & James Vanderbilt's Mythology Entertainment without Liman.

Everest
On November 30, 2011, it was announced that Liman would direct Everest, based on the Jeffrey Archer novel Paths of Glory about mountaineer George Mallory's attempts to scale Mount Everest in the 1920s, for Sony Pictures, with Sheldon Turner adapting the novel. On September 24, 2012, it was announced that Tom Hardy had entered talks to star as Mallory. In October 2013, it was announced that the project was preparing to begin production in March 2014, but that Hardy had dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. On June 16, 2021, it was announced that Ewan McGregor had been cast as Mallory, alongside Mark Strong as Arthur Hinks and Sam Heughan as George Finch. Production was expected to begin in January 2022, with HanWay Films now handling the project's international sales and cinematographer Martin Ruhe, production designer Oliver Scholl, and composer T Bone Burnett all attached to the project.

Heartbeats TV series
On November 5, 2013, Liman was set to produce Ben York Jones and Michael Mohan's romantic dramedy series Heartbeats, with Liman's business partner Dave Bartis will serve as executive producers and Jones and Mohan will co-executive produce the series for Starz.

El Presidente
On November 19, 2013, Liman was set to take over directing the comedy El Presidente from Jay Roach, with Tom Cruise starring, Paul Attanasio writing the script, and Warner Bros. set to distribute.

Railhead film
On October 20, 2015, Liman was set to direct the feature film adaptation of Philip Reeve's novel Railhead with Gary Graham writing the screenplay, Liman producing the movie with Dave Bartis, Denise DiNovi, and Allison Greenspan for Warner Bros. distributing.

The Year of The Great Storm
On March 9, 2016, Liman was set to produce Karzan Kader's biographical crime film The Year of The Great Storm, with Johanna Baldwin writing the screenplay and producing along with Tyler Perry, George C. Wolfe, Ozzie Areu, Matt Moore, and Russ Stratton.

Justice League Dark film
On August 24, 2016, Liman was set to direct a Justice League Dark film entitled Dark Universe set in the DC Extended Universe, with Michael Gilio set to write the screenplay and Scott Rudin producing. On May 23, 2017, Liman left the project.

Unearthed film
On June 7, 2017, Liman was set to direct the feature film adaptation of Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner's novel Unearthed for Columbia Pictures and Cross Creek Pictures, with Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth set to write the screenplay.

Crazy Talented TV series
On July 12, 2019, Liman was set to produce and direct Crazy Talented based on a short story by Steven Gould with Michael Karnow writing the Quibi series.

Untitled ISS film
On May 26, 2020, Liman was set to direct and write a film to be filmed on the International Space Station, with Tom Cruise set to star and produce the project with Liman in collaboration with NASA and SpaceX, and on October 11, 2022, Cruise was confirmed to be the first civilian to do a spacewalk for the movie.

Red Notice series
In March 2022, Liman signed on to direct and executive produce a television series adaptation of the 2015 book Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice by activist and financier Bill Browder.

Rise and Kill First
On May 18, 2022, Liman was set to direct the Otto Skorzeny biopic based on Ronen Bergman‘s nonfiction book Rise and Kill First with Story Syndicate and Abot Hameiri producing the movie.

Gambit remake
On April 28, 2010, Liman was in talks to direct the American remake of Gambit for Summit Entertainment with the Coen brothers writing the screenplay, which Michael Hoffman ended up directing.

Narco Sub
On October 8, 2013, Liman was in negotiations to direct the action thriller Narco Sub, with David Guggenheim writing the screenplay and Genre Films and Scott Free Productions producing for 20th Century Fox. On May 28, 2014, Antoine Fuqua was set to direct Narco Sub instead of Liman.

The Cannonball Run reboot
On June 4, 2018, Liman was in talks to direct the reboot of The Cannonball Run for Warner Bros. with Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant in talks to write the screenplay.