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Coen brothers' unrealized projects

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The following is a list of unproduced Coen brothers projects in roughly chronological order. During their long careers, American filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen have worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under their direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled.[1][2][3][4][5]

1990s

The Contemplations

It was reported back in 1998 that the Coen brothers were working on an anthology film titled The Contemplations.[1][2][4]

2000s

To the White Sea

In August 2000, it was announced that the Coen brothers were to direct Brad Pitt in a film adaptation of James Dickey's novel To the White Sea.[6][7] The brothers also wrote a screenplay that would have been based on Dickey's novel.[8][9] Filming was to begin in 2002, but the $80 million budget was deemed too expensive.[10] The Houston Chronicle reported that "no studio would fund the film."[11] In August 2015, it was announced that Warner Bros. acquired the film rights to the book and that their screenplay was scrapped and that another writer and/or director would replace them.[12][13][14]

62 Skidoo

It was reported in 2004[15] that the Coen brothers were to make a Cold War-related comedy film project titled 62 Skidoo.[16] Nicolas Cage was attached to the project.[17]

The Yiddish Policemen's Union

In February 2008, it was announced that the Coen brothers were to write and direct a film adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union for Columbia Pictures.[18][19][20] Scott Rudin, who collaborated with the brothers in No Country for Old Men (2007), was to have served as producer.[21][22] When asked about the status of the project in 2015, Chabon confirmed: "Nothing. The Coen brothers wrote a draft of the script and then they seemed to move on. The rights have lapsed back to me."[23]

Old Fink

In September 2009, it was reported that the Coen brothers wanted to do a sequel of their 1991 film Barton Fink titled Old Fink and that they wanted John Turturro to reprise his role.[24] Joel Coen said of the project in 2016: "That’s the one movie that we thought deserved a sequel, called 'Old Fink.' But we don’t want to do it until Turturro is quite old. He’s getting there."[25][26]

2010s

Black Money

In August 2015, it was reported that the Coen brothers were to write and direct a film adaptation of Ross Macdonald's novel Black Money for Warner Bros.[27][28]

References

  1. ^ a b Wakeman, Gregory (October 16, 2015). "6 Coen Brothers Projects We Still Hope Make It To Cinemas". CinemaBlend. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Dee, Jake (November 14, 2020). "10 Unmade Coen Brothers Movies We're Still Hoping For". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  3. ^ Ward, Steven (December 20, 2021). "6 Canceled Coen Brothers Projects We Wish We Could've Seen". Slash Film. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Simpson, Joe (September 4, 2020). "Every Unmade Coen Brothers Movie (& Why They Didn't Happen)". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  5. ^ Swapnil Dhurv Bose (September 24, 2022). "Exploring five promising cancelled projects by the Coen brothers". Far Out. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  6. ^ Brake, Scott (August 15, 2000). "Brad Pitt To Take A Swim In Coen Brothers' White Sea". IGN. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  7. ^ ABC News (August 16, 2000). "Pitt to Parachute for Coen Bros". ABC News. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  8. ^ Cotter, Padraig (February 22, 2020). "The Coen Brothers Unmade To The White Sea Could Have Been Another Classic". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  9. ^ "Disturbed takes a look at the Coen Bros Draft of TO THE WHITE SEA!". Ain't It Cool News. September 23, 2000. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  10. ^ Hutchinson, Sean (April 15, 2015). "15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Intolerable Cruelty". Mental Floss. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  11. ^ "World War II film lost in translation for Coen brothers". Houston Chronicle. March 22, 2004. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  12. ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (August 25, 2015). "Former Coen Brothers Project 'To The White Sea' Moves On Without Them". IndieWire. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  13. ^ Fischer, Russ (August 24, 2015). "'To The White' Sea Back In Development, Without The Coen Brothers". Slash Film. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  14. ^ Kit, Borys (August 24, 2015). "Warner Bros., Roy Lee to Adapt World War II Tale 'To the White Sea' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  15. ^ "Joel Coen: The plan that wasn't there". The Independent. June 18, 2004. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  16. ^ Techler, Graham (January 22, 2017). "Five Ways Your Amazing Movie Does Not Get Made". Paste. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  17. ^ Schonfeld, Zach (2023). How Coppola Became Cage. Oxford University Press, Incorporated. ISBN 9780197556375.page 157
  18. ^ Fleming, Michael (February 11, 2008). "Coens speak 'Yiddish' for Columbia". Variety. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  19. ^ Reynolds, Simon (February 12, 2008). "Coens to direct 'Yiddish Policemen's Union'". Digital Spy. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  20. ^ Gorman, Steve (February 12, 2008). "Chabon's 'Yiddish Policemen' headed for big screen". Reuters. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  21. ^ "Coen brothers adapting Chabon's Yiddish". Entertainment Weekly. February 13, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  22. ^ "Coen brothers to adapt Chabon book". United Press International. February 12, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  23. ^ Costello, Brannon (2015). Conversations with Michael Chabon. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781626746695.
  24. ^ Rosenberg, Adam (September 21, 2009). "EXCLUSIVE: Coen Brothers Want John Turturro To Get Old For 'Barton Fink' Sequel, 'Old Fink'". MTV.com. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  25. ^ Setoodeh, Ramin (February 3, 2016). "The Coen Brothers Will Never Make a Sequel to 'The Big Lebowski'". Variety. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  26. ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (February 4, 2016). "Coen Brothers Talk 'Barton Fink' Sequel 'Old Fink' And #OscarsSoWhite Controversy". IndieWire. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  27. ^ Fleming Jr., Mike (August 15, 2015). "Joel And Ethan Coen To Adapt & Direct Ross MacDonald Novel 'Black Money' For Warner Bros". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  28. ^ Kroll, Justin (August 5, 2015). "Joel and Ethan Coen to Write, May Direct Adaptation of Crime Novel 'Black Money'". Variety. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
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