What Other Films in Turnaround Are Poised to Follow Draft Day into Theaters?

When a project goes into turnaround, it’s never a happy moment. Development execs, producers, and writers spend years laboring on a project only to see their hard work put on a shelf. There are many reasons to put a script into turnaround: a competing project beats them to theaters; a regime change alters the studios’ agenda; talent attachments fall apart; or the passion simply dies out. While it’s frustrating to see all that work wasted, turnaround can actually bring about a project’s second chance.

Home Alone was three weeks away from production at Warner Bros. when it was put into turnaround over a budget discrepancy of $3 million. Joe Roth, then chairman of 20th Century Fox, along with Roger Birnbaum, decided to back the project, and a worldwide success was born. Since then, Warner Bros. has been reluctant to put anything in turnaround, and understandably so.

Runaway Bride, which made $35 million on its opening weekend, spent nearly a decade getting tossed around by financiers. Eventually it took Paramount, Disney, Lakeshore, and Interscope to get it going. Paramount put Twilight in turnaround (ouch), and iconic films like The Matrix, The English Patient, Star Wars, Pulp Fiction, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Shakespeare in Love were all once-abandoned projects that were rescued and turned into moneymaking—and in some cases Oscar-winning—films.

The most recent of these is the Ivan Reitman-directed, Kevin Costner-starring Draft Day, which nabbed the number one spot on 2012’s Black List. Just prior to that, it had been put into turnaround by Paramount, where the concern over Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman’s script about an NFL coach doing whatever he can to obtain the number one draft pick, was that American football wouldn’t have the same appeal overseas. The story got another shot when Summit/Lionsgate and OddLot picked it up only six months after it was put into turnaround. The film releases this weekend a co-stars Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Frank Langella, and Ellen Burstyn. Early reviews call it “smart and charming” so we’ll see how it performs.

In the meantime, here is our shortlist of projects stuck in turnaround purgatory that we feel deserve a second (or third or fourth) chance.

The SSN Turnaround Shortlist

 

 ANDREW HENRY’S MEADOW

Studio: Fox Logline: A boy inventor escapes suburbia for a beautiful meadow, where he builds a child's utopia in the trees. There he becomes a reluctant hero who leads a band of outcasts on a mission to awaken their families before it's too late. Producers: Zach Braff, Adam Braff, John Davis Source: Based on a novel of the same name, written by D. Burns, Putnam Pub Group, June 1965. Stats: Zach’s brother Adam wrote the script with the intention of producing it alongside prolific Fox Family producer John Davis. The Goonies-esque tale was a large-scale production that Barry Sonnenfeld later signed on to direct.

SSN Insight: It’s a whimsical and timeless children’s book that could appeal to both kids and adults who yearn for escape. A visionary director like Danny Boyle or Alfonso Cuarón could really bring this to life.

Small World

Studio: Fox 2000 Logline: Misadventures of the black-sheep son of a wealthy, blind businessman who, after losing their tickets to Italy, takes his father on a whirlwind tour of New York City, pretending it’s Italy so he doesn’t miss out on a lifelong dream. Producer: Chuck Gordon (Daybreak Productions) Source: Based on an original script by Rob Muir and Bob Hilgenberg Stats: Over eight writers tried to nail the tone of this dramedy and fell short of realizing its full potential.

SSN Insight: With the right director and cast, this idea truly has Oscar potential. As an emotional and heartwarming father/son story, imagine what it could become in the hands of David O. Russell or James Ponsoldt.

 THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST

Studio: Fox Searchlight Logline: Tom Wolfe's account of author Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters as they drive across the country in a DayGlo painted school bus, and reach personal and collective revelations through the use of LSD and other psychedelic drugs. Producer: Richard Gladstein Writer: Dustin Lance Black, Gustin Nash Source: Tom Wolfe’s book of the same name, published by Bantam Books, 1968.

SSN Insight: Gus Van Sant was attached to this for several years. Black wrote a draft and then Nash (Charlie Bartlett, Youth in Revolt) came on board. The book is a beloved American classic, but in 2011 Van Sant told IndieWire: “I worked on it for a long time, and we still haven’t got the right combination of parts [to] make a film version of it.” It’s still a story worth telling, and Van Sant is the perfect director. Maybe a writer like David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, The Yellow Birds) or John Krokidas (Kill Your Darlings) could finally crack it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Studio: Columbia Logline: Two Muslim women, married to the same man, have an enduring friendship that lasts over 10 years while war rages on in Afghanistan. Producer: Scott Rudin, Film Rites Writer: Steve Zaillian Source: Based on the novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini, Riverhead, May 2007. Stats:Zaillian was previously mentioned to direct.

SSN Insight: This popular novel is a moving, in-depth story of female friendship. Zaillian perceived the film adaptation of Hosseini’s The Kite Runner as “inauthentic” and wanted Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi to direct. Sadly, Panahi was jailed and Suns stalled. The movie doesn’t need to be told in Farsi to be authentic, and a director like Marjane Satrapi could be an interesting choice.

HOTHOUSE FLOWERS

Studio: Columbia Logline: A recently divorced woman who works at a Manhattan ad agency decides to go on an adventure. Producer: Julia Roberts, Joe Roth, Suzanne Todd, Jennifer Todd, Philip Rose, Lisa Gillan Writer: Margot Berwin Source: Berwin’s novel Hothouse Flower and The Nine Plants of Desire,Vintage Books, June 2009.

SSN Insight: This one definitely sounds like Eat, Pray, Love, but if Roberts produces and another actress came on board, the similarities would be less obvious. Imagine Emily Blunt or Kate Winslet in the lead role; if it’s grounded in reality and not dumbed down, it could attract a great actress.

 MONSTER ZOO

Studio: Paramount Logline: When an ancient idol is unearthed and transported to a zoo in the U.S., a spirit awakens and begins to transform the caged animals. Producer: Sam Raimi, The Gotham Group Writer: Lloyd Taylor Source: Based on the graphic novel of the same name, written by Doug TenNapel, Image Comics, May 2008.

SSN Insight: TenNapel, one of today’s most prolific and talented graphic novelists, has had many of his works sold into feature film development, yet none have been made. Monster Zoo was one of his most high-profile sales and one of the quickest to go into turnaround. It could have the appeal of Coraline, a film with a touch of darkness that was still fanciful enough to appeal to young kids.

THE SEARCH FOR WONDLA

Studio: Paramount Logline: When a marauder destroys the underground sanctuary of Eva Nine, the twelve-year-old is forced to flee above ground. Eva Nine searches for anyone else like her, for she knows other humans exist because of an item she treasures—a scrap of cardboard on which is depicted a young girl, an adult, and a robot, with the strange word, “WondLa.” Producers: Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Lindsay Williams, Tony DiTerlizzi Writer: Chase Palmer Source: Based on DiTerlizzi’s book of the same name, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, September 2010.

SSN Insight: This quirky story, by bestselling author/illustrator DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles) is currently out to directors. It has franchise potential as an action adventure tale, and could become a breakout role for a young actress.

 Dune

Studio: Paramount Logline: Thousands of years in the future, young Paul Atreides and his family relocate to the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the spice mélange—the most valuable substance in the universe. Producers: Kevin Misher, Richard Rubinstein Writer: Chase Palmer (rewrite), Josh Zetumer Source: Based on Frank Herbert’s novel of the same name, Chilton Books, 1965.

SSN Insight: Dune was previously adapted as a feature film in 1984 by David Lynch, and as a television mini-series in 2000. Lynch’s film has a devoted cult following, as does the book. Peter Berg was previously attached to direct and produce, along with Film 44 partner Sarah Aubrey; Pierre Morel was previously attached to direct; and Robert Pattinson was rumored to be on tap to star. It would be great to see what Rian Johnson could do, since Looper was one of the more original sci-fi films of the last few years.

The Wind

Studio: Warner Bros. Logline: A group of miners on an alien planet get in over their heads. Producers: David Koepp Writer: David Koepp

SSN Insight: The studio was high on this sci-fi script in 2012, and it looked like they were making a bold move by tapping commercial director Nic Matthieu after he made a strong impression on studio execs. It’s since stalled, and Matthieu has a project in development at the studio called Robotech. With Koepp’s track record in this genre, it would be nice to see the right elements come together to get The Wind into production.

DRAMARAMA

Studio: Warner Bros. Logline: A high school senior gets bitten by the performing bug, but when the rival school's reigning star pushes her too far, she forms her own drama club and enters a competition to vie for the winner's title, abandoning a secure future for the unpredictable life of theater. Producer: Andrew Lazar, Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd Writer: Andrew Osborne, Adam Abraham, Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan, Evan Greenberg Source: Pitch by Osborne

SSN Insight: Back in ‘99, Warner Bros. purchased Osborne’s pitch for Lazar’s Mad Chance, and granted Osborne a first-look deal on a second pic. Then up-and-coming filmmaker Shawn Ku (White on Rice) was attached to direct and Lindsay Lohan was set to star. How times have changed. The studio went through multiple drafts with different writers—never a great sign—but this premise still has potential. Bring on a seriously funny female scribe like Kay Cannon (Pitch Perfect, 30 Rock) or Maggie Carey (The To Do List), and this could be a darkly funny flick.