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In media industry jargon, "development hell" (or "development limbo") is a period during which a film or other project is "trapped" in development. A film, video game, television program, screenplay, computer program, concept, or idea stranded in development hell takes an especially long time to start production, or never does.

The film industry buys rights to many popular novels, video games, and comics, but it may take years for such properties to be successfully brought to the cinema, and often with considerable changes to the plot, characters, and general tone.

Overview
In the case of a film or television screenplay, the screenwriter may have successfully sold a screenplay to a certain set of producers or studio executives, but then new executives assigned to the project may raise objections to all the scripts and casting decisions they oversee, mandating rewrites and recasting. As directors and actors become "attached" to the project, further rewrites and recasting may be done, to accommodate the needs of the new talents involved in the project. Should the project fail to meet their needs, they might leave the project or simply refuse to complete it, causing further rewrites and recasting. At any point, a project may be forced to begin again from scratch.

It may also be the case that the screenwriters have an issue with the final rights agreement after signing an option, but are not happy with the full terms, and the project may go in endless circles until either the situation is resolved, or the project is abandoned.

When a film is in development but never receives the necessary production funds, another studio may do a turnaround and produce the film to make it successful. An example of this is when Columbia Pictures developed but dropped E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Universal Pictures picked up the film and made it a success. If a studio completely abandons a film project, the costs are written off as part of the studio's overhead.

Sometimes studios or producers will deliberately halt production in order to stop competition on a different project, or to ensure that people invested will be available for other projects that the studio prefers.

This process can last for months or years. More often than not, a project trapped in this state will be abandoned by all interested parties or canceled outright. As Hollywood starts ten times as many projects as are released, many scripts will end up in this state. This happens most often with projects that have multiple interpretations and affect several points of view.

During a potential writer's strike in 2001, major studios wanted to spend less time and energy bidding on longer-term developments such as film rights to books and focus more on buying projects that would immediately receive a green-light. They were more interested in developing the big budget action thrillers and high concept comedies written by established and credible writers. Studio executives put all uncertain scripts and pitches on the shelves during this time to avoid taking a chance on a long-term development and only wanted projects that were ready to go into production.

Some studios and producers still bought film rights to books but only ones that had successful sales. Examples of this are Dino De Laurentiis' $9 million acquisition of Thomas Harris' Hannibal and Miramax purchasing Mario Puzo's Omertà for $2–$3 million.

Related concepts
In software development, unreleased products that have been in long-term development are considered a type of vaporware. In film and television screenplay, unreleased products that have been in long-term development are considered as "vaporfilm". The anime OVA adaptation of Alien Nine has been cited by fans and critics as an example of "vaporfilm" because of its unfinished status after four episodes (extending halfway through the manga) and its hiatus since 2002.

Films
Alien vs. Predator: Released in 2004 after more than a decade of different scripts, changes to the cast, false starts, orphaned tie-ins, several series of video games and even promotions of the believed-to-be-coming-soon movie. A.I. Artificial Intelligence: Originally a joint project led by Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, it was halted with Kubrick's death and finished by Spielberg two years later. Akira: Warner Bros. has been developing a live-action American version of the animated film for years. As of January 6, 2012, Warner has "shut down" production for the fourth time. Atuk Beverly Hills Cop III: Went through multiple script revisions, including a treatment that had Axel Foley teaming up with a Scotland Yard detective to be played by Sean Connery until being finally released. The failure of Batman & Robin also hindered many attempts to produce a fifth Batman movie until Warner Brothers opted to reboot the franchise with far greater success. Blade Runner 2: In development hell since 1992. The Brazilian Job: A sequel to the 2003 remake of The Italian Job was in development by the summer of 2004, but has faced multiple delays. Principal photography was initially slated to begin in March 2005, with a projected release date in November or December 2005. However, the script was never finalized, and the release date was pushed back to sometime in 2006, and later summer 2007. Writer David Twohy approached Paramount Pictures with an original screenplay entitled The Wrecking Crew, and though the studio reportedly liked the idea, they thought it would work better as a sequel to The Italian Job. Gray was slated to return as director, as well as most, if not all, of the original cast. At least two drafts of the script had been written by August 2007, but the project had not been greenlit. The Cabin in the Woods: Filmed in 2009, the film was set for a February 2010 release date, however due to the studio filing for bankruptcy, it was delayed for release until 2012. Cowboy Bebop: A live-action film version of the anime was originally announced for a 2011 release. There have been no further announcements since then. Delgo: Development began in 1999 by Marc Adler, who wanted to make a big-budget, computer-animated film independent of titans like Disney and DreamWorks Animation. Marc and his small animation studio, Fathom Studios, spent $40 million making the film. When they couldn't get any major studio interested in distributing Delgo, Fathom instead had a distributor-for-hire give the film a wide release, which it received on December 12, 2008, three years after two of the film's voice actors (Anne Bancroft and John Vernon) had died. Delgo had the worst opening weekend of any wide-release film until the release of The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure in 2012. Dragon's Lair: According to Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, there would have been a movie adaption of the 1983 video game. Bluth and Goldman are looking for funding to put filming for this movie in production. As of 2013, the status of the film is unknown. Driver: In 2002, it was announced that a film adaption of the hit video game series Driver would be created. In 2007 the project was sold to another studio, and Roger Avary was reported to have written the script, which was later leaked online. However, the film has not been made yet. Exorcist: The Beginning: In an example of development hell continuing into post-production, the film Exorcist: The Beginning had completed filming and was in final post production when the studio fired director Paul Schrader and replaced him with Renny Harlin. Harlin chose to reshoot most of the film, changed the context of the scenes he did not have reshot, and completely rewrote the film's climax. Because many of the supporting cast had moved on to other projects after Schrader's production wrapped, Harlin had to recast most of the supporting roles. After Harlin's film failed, Schrader was allowed to finish his version with a very limited special effects budget, and it received a theatrical release as Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, and did a little better critically than Harlin's version. Foodfight!: In 2004, the CGI film Foodfight was announced. Described as "Toy Story in a supermarket", the film promised to bring together over 80 famous advertising characters with voice talent including Charlie Sheen, Hilary and Haylie Duff, Wayne Brady, and Eva Longoria. Creators expected it to be a commercial hit and merchandise for the movie appeared on store shelves before the film had a release date. Unfortunately, the film ran into many problems. After several years, a trailer was finally shown at AHM in 2011, a company bought the DVD distribution rights for the film in Europe, and a quiet video-on-demand American release came in 2013. Freddy vs. Jason: Like AVP, Freddy vs. Jason was also famously mired in development hell for years; originally, the studios who owned the two franchises involved with the titular crossover had wanted to make it for years, but could not agree on how to make it. When New Line Cinema bought the rights to the Friday the 13th franchise, the film stayed in development hell as New Line went through numerous screenwriters and even more script ideas, until the two men who ended up writing the script for the film threw out every other script that came before them and set a list of rules to follow that respected both parent franchises involved as they wrote their script. The film was finally released in 2003, and ended up making more money than any other film in either of the parent franchises. The story of the film's stay in development hell and the numerous script ideas that came before the final script is a bonus feature on the film's DVD. Gangs of New York: Martin Scorsese first started trying to get Gangs of New York made in 1978. He finally did it in 2002, and a good deal of his DVD commentary on the film is devoted to explaining the arduous process. Ghostbusters III: Has been in development hell since 1989. Howard Hughes' Hell's Angels: Due to Hughes' perfectionism and insistence on the latest film technology, the film took three years and a budget of $38 million to complete, something unheard of at the time. Two decades later, Hughes would take seven years to complete a similar film, Jet Pilot. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Announced in 1982, filming did not begin until 2003, two years after series creator Douglas Adams died. Adams said of his experience trying to get the film made, "Getting a movie made in Hollywood is like trying to grill a steak by having a succession of people coming into the room and breathing on it." For several years, the About the Author blurb in Adams' books included the line "A major motion picture is currently in development hell and should be coming out any decade now." The Hobbit Trilogy: The Hobbit went through development hell as well before finally being greenlit. The film then suffered additional problems involving creative control and the studio's refusal to allow filming to take place in New Zealand, where the preceding film series The Lord of the Rings had been shot. This was a deal-breaker for director Guillermo del Toro, who left the project. Peter Jackson retook control of the project and split it into three films, the first of which was released in December 2012. Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil: Announced for release in January 2010. The creator himself wasn't sure when it was going to be released, if ever. It finally came out in April 2011. This meant Hayden Panettiere had two movies saved from development hell in 2011, as Fireflies In The Garden had a long wait before US release due to mixed reactions in Europe and distributor difficulties; it was eventually released in October of that year. Hulk: Development began in the 1990s, but the film was not released until 2003. Independence Day 2, also known as ID4-2, has been in development hell since 1997. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Remained in development hell since 1989 and was released in 2008. Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino announced his plans to shoot a World War II movie titled Inglourious Basterds shortly after the 1997 release of Jackie Brown. As of 2007, he was still working on the script. However, the film began shooting in late 2008 and was released in August 2009. Inglourious Basterds was Tarantino's most commercially successful film until his spaghetti western homage Django Unchained was released three years later. John Carter: A 2012 adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars, began initial development in 1931. Rights passed through multiple studios with interest being expressed within Disney in the 1950s. Disney acquired the rights in the 1980s, but these later reverted to the Burroughs estate, and were competitively re-bid by Paramount and Columbia. Paramount began production in the early 2000s, but stalled and eventually the rights were repurchased by Disney leading to the final released film. Jurassic Park IV: Was first expected to be released in 2005, four years after the third film. It was finally slated to enter production in 2014 for a 2015 release, but later stalled for numerous reasons. The French animated film The King and the Mockingbird: Started production in 1948, and wasn't finished until 1980. Les Misérables: A film adaptation of the stage musical began in 1985. After the musical's 25th anniversary concert in 2010, producer Cameron Mackintosh announced that the film had resumed development, and was released Christmas 2012. The rights to a live action adaptation of The Lord of the Rings were sold to United Artists shortly before JRR Tolkien's death in 1973; it wasn't until 1994 that Peter Jackson was given approval to begin shooting and the first film was not released until 2001. Mad Max: Fury Road: Originally meant to follow 1985's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, began filming in 2012. Megalopolis: A large-scale Francis Ford Coppola project about the aftermath and reconstruction of New York City after a mega-disaster. In development since the 1980s. Men in Black 3: Remained in development hell since 2002 and was released in 2012. Neon Genesis Evangelion: A live action adaptation of the anime series has been in development hell since it was first announced in 2003. On the Road: A potential film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's novel began in 1957 after Kerouac wrote a letter to Marlon Brando asking him to play Dean Moriarty. Over the decades, several major studios and directors, including Francis Ford Coppola, wanted to buy the rights to make the film. Coppola eventually helped produce a film adaptation released to mixed reviews in 2012. The Postman: Author David Brin described the ten-year effort to get his novel produced as a film. In the process, the screenplay went through so much revision as to barely resemble the book, even leading writers to "borrow" from the book they were supposed to be creating as a film. Rambo V: The Fifth installment of the film franchise. It have be announced from 2008 after the release of fourth movie. But until that day, It is currently unknown that the screen director decided to film or not, due to the low budget. Soul Calibur: The Movie: a film adaptation of the Soul Calibur video game series. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For: Sin City 2, which was supposed to be released in 2008 is finally in production, slated for a 2014 release. Speed Racer: A Speed Racer live action film was first announced in 1992. Four directors later and through many casting, studio, and writer changes, the film was released in May 2008 and is considered one of the biggest box office bombs in history. Star Wars Sequel Trilogy: Planned since 1975, the trilogy remained in development hell beginning in 1983. After later being abandoned and denied for several years, the trilogy was brought back in 2012 after Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm, starting with Star Wars Episode VII, which is scheduled for a 2015 release. Superman Lives: A scrapped reboot of the Superman film series, very loosely based on the comic book storyline "The Death of Superman". Superman Returns Supernova: The 2000 film Supernova was in development for 12 years and cost an estimated 60 million dollars. Although the theatrical version runs only 87 minutes, reportedly several hours of completed footage exists, much of it self-contradictory due to changes made to the script during the filming stage. Both Francis Ford Coppola and H R Giger were involved at one point. The Thief and the Cobbler: The film began production in 1964 but wasn't released until 1993. Vincent Price recorded his lines 20 years before it was released, and died before seeing the finished film. Production was halted several times by funding problems, and ran over budget on multiple occasions. Watchmen: Film rights to the 1986–1987 comic book series were first acquired in 1986; numerous versions were attempted, with a film adaptation finally released in 2009. A sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. World of Warcraft: The Movie

Video games
Aliens: Colonial Marines: Was in development by Sega and Gearbox Software since 2008, and released in 2013 to a negative reception. Brothers in Arms 4: Considered to be the fourth and final installment of the game ending the story from the 101st Airborne that participated war in Europe. It was announced after Borderlands' release in 2009, The new franchise that Gearbox have developed, published by 2K Games. In 2012, they have announced the new franchise of the Brothers in Arms featuring with friction of the classes base on the demolition squad named Filthy Thirteen. However, It was very negative after the public have received at the same time, The sequel of Borderlands, Borderlands 2 and was once again mentioned about the game. But was never admitted that the game have developing. Until now, that the title of the game have developing is currently unknown. Duke Nukem Forever: A video game which was originally announced in 1997, though had many development issues leading to over a decade's delay before its final release in 2011. An incomplete list of things that happened during DNF's development. Doom 4: It was announced right after the release of Doom 3 and has been in development ever since then after the release of RAGE. Id had announced a trailer to the game, but was not revealed in 2011 or 2012 after the broken promised by developer team. Final Fantasy XIII: Got into development hell right after its initial trailer, Development began in 2004, the Trailer was released in 2006, and the game was released in late 2009. Reasons varied from an under-developed Crystal Tools engine to late play testing. Half-Life 2: Episode 3: Valve Software announced a release of around December 2008. In 2012, Valve stated that Half-Life 2: Episode 3 will be released but did not provide a release date. The Last Guardian: A PlayStation 3 exclusive game to be developed by Team Ico (developers of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus), which was originally announced at E3 2009, but had been stuck in development hell since then. It was recently revealed by Sony's Jack Trentton that The Last Guardian was put on hiatus. Mother 3: Mother 3 began development in 1994 as a Super Famicom title, but development transitioned to the Nintendo 64DD. After the system failed, it was moved to the Nintendo 64, and finally to the Game Boy Advance. It was released in Japan only on April 20, 2006. Pikmin 3: Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto first hinted about the possibilities of a new Pikmin game in a July 2007 interview with IGN. A new Pikmin game was eventually confirmed at E3 2008 during Nintendo's developer roundtable, in which Miyamoto stated that his team were working on a new entry in the series. However, details concerning gameplay and development were left unmentioned. At Miyamoto's roundtable discussion at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011, Miyamoto stated that Pikmin 3 development was moved to Wii U, the Wii successor. On June 5, 2012, Pikmin 3 was shown at Nintendo's press conference at E3. It was said that it would be released around the same time as the Wii U, got delayed to the end of the launch window (March 2013), but its release was later delayed again until mid-2013. Pikmin 3 was finally released in Japan on July 13, 2013 and met with very positive reviews. Prey: A long and storied development history that spans over a decade, starting in 1995. Since then it went through several iterations of the game design and software technology before its eventual release in 2006. Prey 2: Shortly announced after the release of the original. The trailer was not released until in Early 2012 and announcing the actual release date for the game. However, in March 23, 2012 some of the rumor from the French website suggesting that the game have be cancelled by publisher without left any of the responding from the company. But in April 19, 2012 that the game is not cancelled and given that the game will not be release in 2012 rather in 2013. On August 20, 2012 the game was removed from the products page on Bethesda's website. A spokesperson from Bethesda informed Eurogamer that until they're ready to talk about the game more, the focus on the site is on their upcoming titles. In the early 2013, many of the Order products websites shop are featuring the pre-order of Prey 2 by the end of 2013. But It was not confirmed by Developer and Publisher. In May 2013, the Kotaku reported rumors that development has moved to Arkane Studios and that the development has been rebooted scrapping all of Human Head Studios work and with a targeted release of 2016. It has also been reported that Obsidian Entertainment worked on the game at one point for at least a few months. However, It was completely denied again in August 2. Until now, the game progressing is currently unknown. Sadness: One of the earliest titles for the Wii, cancelled in 2010. Sonic X-treme: A famous and well documented example of development hell. The game had changed platforms many times during development and was ultimately cancelled. It led to the overworking and disbandment of Sega Technical Institute. In 2006 an early test version of the game was leaked. South Park: The Stick of Truth: Originally announced in December 2011 and to be released by Ubisoft in the "latter half" of 2012, the game has faced numerous delays. In March 2012, developer Obsidian Entertainment laid off 20-30 of its staff, including some of the Stick of Truth team. After the layoffs, THQ moved the projected release date to April 2013. In December of 2012, THQ filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, liquidated all of its assets (including the sale of Stick of Truth to Ubisoft) and closed its doors the following month. Upon acquiring the rights to the game, Ubisoft set a projected release date for December 2013. Ubisoft most recently moved the launch date to March 2014, citing a "major overhaul" being applied to the game. Star Wars: Battlefront III: Had been in development by LucasArts and Free Radical Design between 2006-2008, before being put on hold following Free Radical's shutdown. The game was officially announced at Electronic Arts' (who had recently acquired the Star Wars license for the core gaming market after LucasArts was shuttered by Disney) E3 2013 press conference as "Star Wars: Battlefront", now a reboot of the franchise rather than a sequel. It will be developed by DICE LA, run on the Frostbite 3 engine, and will be released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: The sequel of the cult-hit S.T.A.L.K.E.R set after the trilogy was announced after the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat in 2010. However after the company developing the game closed down, due to the government crackdown. All negotiations with a new developer have fallen through and the game is now cancelled as of 2013. Former developers of GSC Game World have formed a new studio, Vostok Games, and are working on a spiritual successor called Survarium Team Fortress 2: The game was first announced in 1998 as a sequel to the original Team Fortress mod for Half Life 1, but has since been through various concept and design periods. The absence of media information or apparent development progress for six years of the game's development caused it to be labeled as vaporware, and it was regularly featured in the Wired News' annual vaporware list, among gaming news outlets. Since its release, however, the game has received critical acclaim and several awards. Released in 2007.

Too Human: Too Human was first announced in 1999 to be released on the original PlayStation with a first teaser showings during E3 that same year. Unlike its eventual format on the Xbox 360 as a single disc, the game was to be released across four CD-ROMs bundled together (a similar format to that of Final Fantasy VIII released in 1999). Also, unlike the finished product, the plot, while involving the theme of human cybernetic enhancements, was to be set in the distant future of 2450 AD instead of the alternate science fiction take on Norse mythology. Development halted when Nintendo announced an exclusive partnership with Silicon Knights, and the game was moved to the Nintendo GameCube in 2000. Prototyping for the game took place on the GameCube, but the staff at Silicon Knights soon devoted their efforts towards two other releases, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, with further news of Too Human becoming mute, without any indication of future development being announced until five years later in 2005. Too Human was finally released in 2008, to mediocre critical review.

Other examples
The Beatles on iTunes. The release of the band's catalogue was intended to happen at the end of 2008, but it fell through. Apple Corps issued a limited release of the entire discography on MP3 before the band's music appeared on iTunes in November 2010, a year after a deal had supposedly finally been made. Chinese Democracy: Released in 2008 after 14 years in development, prompting the long-standing joke that China itself would become democratic before Chinese Democracy was released. Perhaps inevitably, a song from Chinese Democracy was released in 2008 on Rock Band 2, about two months before the album itself was released. Detox: The long delayed third studio album by rapper Dr. Dre that has been in development since 2001. Lifestyles of the Rich and Flavor: Flavor Flav's solo album, Lifestyles of the Rich and Flavor, had been touted since the mid-'90s. It finally saw release as Flavor Flav in 2006. Paul Pena recorded his second album New Train in 1973, but it got caught in a tug-of-war between his management and his label and never got released. Oddly enough, Pena still made a fair amount of money from the project when Steve Miller Band had a huge hit covering one of the album's songs, "Jet Airliner". After 27 years a deal was finally worked out and New Train was released in 2000. An unnamed sequel to The Rocky Horror Show has had multiple false starts. Planned to be a stage play like its predecessor, with the possibility of becoming a film if the play had become a financial hit.