During his long career, British film director Ridley Scott has worked on a number of projects that never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell into development hell or were officially cancelled.

1970s City Boy When asked in an interview if he would ever make a film centered around children as main characters, Scott answered that he had once tried early on to adapt Herman Wouk's 1948 book City Boy: The Adventures of Herbie Bookbinder to film. He described the story as centering on "three children; a very pretty little girl, a child who's very plain, a child who's very handsome. It's this constant circle, as the girl plays these two kids for her affection." Scott planned to use 1970's "The Only Living Boy in New York" by Simon & Garfunkel as the title song. However, as of 2025, he said he was no longer interested in making the film, comparing it to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in terms of being outdated.

Castle Accident Scott's first attempt at a feature film was a medieval-set horror script Castle Accident which he collaborated with writer John Edwards on. Scott was hired to direct by producer Robert Stigwood and the film was set to star the three Bee Gees. Though it never came together, Scott would later sign on to helm a musical biopic of the groups' lives.

Ronnie and Leo After he couldn't find funding for Castle Accident, Scott turned to a "violent" Canadian black comedy/heist thriller script he wrote called Ronnie and Leo that was to have starred Michael York and Ernest Borgnine. The film was close to being made with nearly $1.7 million in financing, but it never come to fruition.

The Gunpowder Plot Before The Duellists, Scott first developed a separate project with Gerald Vaughan-Hughes based on the story of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, at the time budgeted at $2.2 million. Despite feeling that the screenplay was "on the level of A Man for All Seasons", the company, Sony, told Scott after receiving it, "can't it be more like Witchfinder General?" He fondly recalled the working relationship he had with Vaughan-Hughes, who he credits with teaching him about drama:

According to Scott, Vaughan-Hughes' way around this issue was to add an additional character, the fictional Gideon Catlin, "who's a good flautist, a very good swordsman, and actually is Jesuit." In the leading roles, he'd cast Donald Sutherland, Robert Shaw and Alec Guinness, but Sony remained unmoved. Both the screenplays for The Gunpowder Plot and The Duellists were completed by 1976 when an executive at Paramount Pictures chose the latter instead since it was deemed less expensive to make. In an audio commentary from 2002, Scott said that he may return to the script someday.

The Author of Beltraffio Scott had initially wanted to direct the Henry James piece Author of Beltraffio, though he relinquished the role to his brother Tony after a coin toss and the film was produced in 1976. "He won that and it ruined my whole summer", Scott later recalled.

Tristan and Iseult In the mid-1970s, before the beginning of the filming of The Duellists, Scott pitched the idea of a film adaptation of medieval romantic legend of Tristan and Iseult, and he planned to release this film as his second movie. However, the project never materialised at the time, and Scott pitched the idea of Legend during the filming of The Duellists as a replacement of this project. A film of the same story, directed by Kevin Reynolds, was later released in 2006 with Scott as the producer.

1980s Conan the Barbarian

In 1980, Dino De Laurentiis approached Scott to direct Conan the Barbarian. While he liked Oliver Stone's script, he did not want to cast Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role, which De Laurentiis was keen on. Scott told him that he would sign on right away if he changed his mind about the protagonist. Instead, John Milius was chosen as the director and the film was made in 1982 with Schwarzenegger as Conan. Scott was also apparently too preoccupied with preparing Blade Runner as his next film to be able to sign on to direct another in addition.

Dune

Around 1981, Scott was hired to direct a film adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel Dune. However, Scott was finally replaced by David Lynch, and the film was released in 1984.

Neuromancer

Sometime in the 1980s Cabana Boy Productions was working on a film adaptation of the novel Neuromancer, and were in talks with Scott and Mel Gibson. The film adaptation was cancelled, but a game—originally intended to be a movie tie-in—was still released. The Devo song "Some Things Never Change" was originally written for the film, and still appears in the game.

Dudes

Herb Jaffe and Miguel Tejada-Flores initially hired Scott to direct Randall Jahnson's script for Dudes, but replaced him with Penelope Spheeris due to creative differences.

The Train In the late 1980s, Scott wanted to direct Jim Uhls's sci-fi action thriller The Train for Carolco. However, Scott left the project to direct Thelma and Louise and Joel Silver bought the rights; he had the script rewritten by Steven E. de Souza and retitled the project as Isobar and The ISOBAR Run. However, it was cancelled due to Carolco's bankruptcy.

Johnny Utah

Columbia Pictures hired Scott to direct an early version of W. Peter Iliff's screenplay for Point Break under the title Johnny Utah, with Charlie Sheen and James Garner starring. The film went into turnaround for several years after Scott quit the film in 1988.

Alien 3 According to colleague John McTiernan, Scott was decided to direct Alien 3 after his own discussions with the studio fell through. "I'm glad Ridley Scott won out," he said. "He has a fantastic style." However, Scott's attachment would not last, and David Fincher finally got the job.

1990s Paramour In 1991, Scott was attached to produce and direct the political thriller Paramour, an adaptation of the novel by Gerald Petievich which was in development at Cinergi Pictures.

Crisis in the Hot Zone On January 24, 1993, Scott signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to direct a film adaptation of Richard Preston's 1992 New Yorker article "Crisis in the Hot Zone." In late April 1994, Robert Redford and Jodie Foster were in talks for star in the film. However, the project was finally shut down due to many production problems and Foster's departure from it. It was subsequently revived and, in 2019, Scott and Lynda Obst developed the National Geographic miniseries.

Pancho's War On January 26, 1993, Scott was committed to directing Pancho's War, an action-adventure written by Marcel Montecino from a story by Montecino and David Balkan set during the 1916 Mexican Revolution. The spec script, which was described by producer John Goldwyn as "a cross between the Sergio Leone westerns and the Lethal Weapon films," was purchased by Paramount Pictures who had hoped to get the film into production that year for a release the following summer, in 1994.

Overkill In December 1993, it was reported that Scott, who wanted to take on an action film as his next project, was circling to direct the spec script Overkill by Reed Steiner. 20th Century Fox was negotiating the involvement of Scott and with Wesley Snipes possibly starring. According to Variety, the script follows a CIA agent who unretires to track down his protégé-turned-assassin.

Untitled Mark Malone script In 1995, New York-based screenwriter Mark Malone was reportedly in the process of developing the script for a new film to be directed by Scott, though no details were disclosed regarding the project.

With Wings as Eagles In 1996, Scott was to direct Arnold Schwarzenegger in Randall Wallace's WWII script With Wings as Eagles. According to Variety, the project follows "a Nazi who is ordered to execute GIs but liberates them instead." Wallace and Alan Ladd Jr. were set to produce for Paramount Pictures, however Scott became unavailable after Schwarzenegger's illness forced a change in schedule.

RKO 281

On February 12, 1997, at a press conference in London, Scott announced that his next feature project would be RKO 281, a behind-the-scenes story of the battle between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst during the making of Citizen Kane. Scott Free Productions originally planned the docudrama as a theatrical movie, based on the documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane which ran on PBS American Experience series. The original cast consisted of Edward Norton as Welles, Marlon Brando as Hearst, Madonna as Marion Davies, Dustin Hoffman as Herman J. Mankiewicz and Meryl Streep as Hedda Hopper. However, the projected budget in excess of $40 million, on which Scott was insisting, turned off the major studios. HBO eventually agreed to make it as a TV film, albeit with a $12 million budget and the entire cast replaced. Director Benjamin Ross also took over from Scott, who remained as executive producer.

Sgt. Rock On February 25, 1997, Scott was in tentative negotiations to assume the director's position on a planned adaptation of the DC Comics title Sgt. Rock for Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver. Bruce Willis was tipped to be the possible star for this iteration, while Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone (both previously considered for the role before), were rumored to be making cameo appearances in the film together.

I Am Legend On July 2, 1997, Variety reported that Scott had signed a contract with Warner Bros. to direct the third film adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend. Arnold Schwarzenegger was attached to portray Dr. Robert Neville and Mark Protosevich was attached to write the film, but the project was finally cancelled due to budgetary concerns on March 16, 1998. It was subsequently revived and in 2007 the film was released with Francis Lawrence as director and with Will Smith in the lead role.

Josiah's Canon According to a 1998 Variety article, Scott had at one point "briefly flirted" with taking the helm of the action-thriller Josiah's Canon, which was later pursued as a project by his brother Tony.

Untitled Navy pilot film In June 1998, it was reported that Scott Free Productions was developing a project about an unnamed Navy pilot who becomes a highly paid repo man that goes after custom-made jet planes, with Donald E. Stewart hired to write the script. Scott and his brother Tony were each vying for the director's position. He said that they would toss a coin to see who gets to make it, adding that it's the "first time" such a circumstance had happened since they both began their careers.

Untitled Newman/Haas Racing drama series In 1999, it was reported that Scott Free Productions was developing a new syndicated series centered around the CART racing circuit team owned by Paul Newman and Carl Haas, with Scott hoping to direct an episode or two of the drama.

2000s Captain Kidd In 2000, Scott was signed by Disney to direct an adventure film from writers Douglas S. Cook and David Weisberg, based on the life of the notorious 17th century pirate Captain Kidd. Variety reported that Jerry Bruckheimer would produce the film in association with Scott Free Productions.

Alexander the Great In July 2001, producer Dino De Laurentiis was courting Scott to direct his planned biopic of Alexander the Great. Ted Tally was writing the project, based on a trilogy of novels by Valerio Massimo Manfredi.

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