During his career, American film director and producer Sam Raimi has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects are officially cancelled and scrapped, or they are considered to be in development hell.

As director The Guardian In the late 1980s, Raimi was initially attached to The Guardian, based on the 1987 book The Nanny by Dan Greenburg, but left in order to direct Darkman instead. According to screenwriter Stephen Volk, he and Raimi developed it as an "Omen-esque" horror film with set-pieces bordering on parody, but when William Friedkin replaced him, the script was rewritten from scratch.

Thor

In 1990, after finishing with the filming of Darkman, Raimi pitched, along with Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee, the concept of a Thor feature film to 20th Century Fox. However, they didn't understand Raimi's and Lee's idea and the project was abandoned. A film based on the Thor property was released years later in 2011 and directed by Kenneth Branagh, as the fourth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe under Paramount Pictures.

Dracula According to the 2001 book, The Evil Dead Companion, Raimi was at one point either attached or had turned down an offer to direct an adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel, Dracula, based on a screenplay by Kevin Jarre.

Jack Frost

In 1994, Raimi was attached to direct Jack Frost, then under the working title of Frosty the Snowman. He and his brother Ivan Raimi had performed a rewrite on the screenplay written by Mark Steven Johnson, but after George Clooney dropped out of the film, Raimi would leave a couple months later. Troy Miller would eventually replace him.

The Damocles Network In April 1995, Variety indicated that Raimi had signed on to Morgan Creek's project The Damocles Network, scripted by John Pogue about a surveillance expert who discovers a high-tech government assassination conspiracy and becomes a target himself. Johnny Depp was being eyed for the main role, with Neal H. Moritz and David Heyman attached to co-produce.

The Green Hornet In December 1995, it was reported that Raimi had been in talks to direct a film version of the 1966 series The Green Hornet, with George Clooney attached to star as the title character, and Jason Scott Lee as Kato. It was planned for a spring production start the following year, though these plans were shelved once Clooney committed to The Peacemaker instead.

Crossroaders In 1997, TriStar Pictures purchased James Shanta's spec script Crossroaders, with Raimi attached to direct and Neal H. Moritz producing. The project was described at the time as "a contemporary Sting" about a young con man who takes down a casino with the help of an older gang.

The Wee Free Men In January 2006, Raimi was set to direct The Wee Free Men based on the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett, but in December 2009 Pratchett said that he had "got the rights to the book back" after reading the proposed screenplay.

Untitled pulp hero team-up film In December 2006, IGN reported that Raimi was developing to direct a project that would bring several classic pulp heroes associated with the publishing house Street & Smith to the bigscreen. These included The Shadow, the Avenger, and Doc Savage, amongst other characters. Screenwriter Siavash Farahani was said to be working alongside Raimi. No further updates were provided.

The Hobbit

On April 18, 2007, Raimi stated that he was open to direct the long time planned The Hobbit film adaptation that was already planned since 1995. However, it was finally decided to divide the book in three films and on April 24, 2008, Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro was selected to direct the film and Peter Jackson was selected to produce it. The films were finally released in 2012, 2013, and 2014 directed by Jackson and written by del Toro.

Evil Dead 4 On May 3, 2007, Raimi announced that after completing Spider-Man 3 he along his brother Ivan would work on Evil Dead 4, a sequel to Raimi's Army of Darkness and the fourth installment in the Evil Dead film series. On July 26, 2008, Raimi stated that Ivan was writing a script for Evil Dead 4. On March 26, 2009, Raimi stayed that Ivan had finished the Evil Dead 4 script. In a 2011 Reddit post, Bruce Campbell remarked that Oz the Great and Powerful was keeping Raimi occupied. The franchise was later rebooted in 2013 with Fede Álvarez as director. Plans for a fourth "Evil Dead" movie eventually evolved into the television series Ash Vs. Evil Dead, which served as a sequel to Army of Darkness and a conclusion to the character of Ash Williams.

Spider-Man 4 Around 2007, after the release of Spider-Man 3, it was announced that Spider-Man 4 was in development and that Raimi would direct it, while Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and the other members of the cast were attached to reprise their roles. Also, it was announced that the fourth Spider-Man film was to be shot back-to-back with Spider-Man 5, while Spider-Man 6 was also in development, but Raimi finally decided to only shoot Spider-Man 4 at that moment. James Vanderbilt was to write the film and its two planned sequels; although David Koepp was also considered to write it. Also, on December 8, 2009, it was reported John Malkovich was slated to portray the Vulture while Anne Hathaway was slated to portray Black Cat. Bruce Campbell was planned to have another cameo appearance, potentially as Mysterio. However, on January 11, 2010, it was officially reported that Sony Pictures had cancelled the production of Spider-Man 4 after Raimi concluded that he was not going to be able to release the film in time with a not so exciting script. The franchise was later rebooted in 2012 with Marc Webb as director.

Jack Ryan film series In March 2008, Paramount Pictures were in talks with Raimi to direct a new Jack Ryan franchise. Paramount chose Kenneth Branagh for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

The Given Day On June 16, 2008, it was reported that Raimi would develop and direct an adaptation of the Dennis Lehane book The Given Day for Columbia Pictures. No further developments have been made since then.

World of Warcraft On July 22, 2009, Blizzard Entertainment reported that Raimi was hired to direct a film adaptation of its popular video game Warcraft entitled World of Warcraft. However, on July 13, 2012, it was announced that Raimi would not direct the Warcraft film because he was working on Oz the Great and Powerful and he needed to finish its post-production. The film was finally released in 2016 as Warcraft and directed by Duncan Jones.

Ruse film In January 2009, Siavash Farahani announced he has written a Ruse film script for Disney with Raimi directing the project. Since then, there have been no further announcements.

Earp: Saints For Sinners On July 19, 2010, Deadline announced that DreamWorks will develop the adaptation of M. Zachary Sherman's Earp: Saints For Sinners with Raimi directing and producing the project with David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, and Radical Studios' Barry Levine, with Matt Cirulnick writing the script. Since then, there have been no further announcements since.

The Outpost On June 26, 2014, it was reported that Raimi would produce and supervise development of a script for an adaptation of Jake Tapper's book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor. Raimi was also considering to direct. However, Raimi felt that he wasn't the right person to direct, and he left the film. Rod Lurie would eventually direct and the film itself would be released on July 3, 2020 with no involvement from Raimi at all.

Love May Fail In October 2014, Deadline Hollywood reported that Raimi was in talks to direct the adaptation of Matthew Quick's book Love May Fail for Columbia Pictures from a Mike White script. In November 2015, it was reported that Raimi would not direct the film as TriStar Pictures took over the movie with Emma Stone set to play the lead.

A Prophet remake On January 22, 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that Raimi was in talks to direct Sony's remake of A Prophet, with Neal H. Moritz and Tobe Jaffe producing, and Dennis Lehane writing the script. The remake eventually became Rapman's American Son and moved to Paramount Players, but it fell apart.

World War 3 On February 26, 2016, it was confirmed that Raimi was attached to direct the film World War 3 for Warner Bros. The film would have been based on a possible future inspired by the book The Next 100 Years by George Friedman. There have been no further announcements since.

Bermuda On February 16, 2017, it was reported that Raimi will be directing a thriller about the Bermuda Triangle for Skydance Media, with the script being written by Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard. On March 4, 2020, it was reported that Skydance replaced Raimi with Scott Derrickson for the movie. On September 19, 2023, it was announced that Marc Webb would now direct the film, with new writers expected to be hired for the project upon the conclusion of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.

The Kingkiller Chronicle On January 29, 2018, it was announced that Raimi was set to direct the first movie in the big-screen adaptation of Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle series, The Name of the Wind, with Rothfuss and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda serving as executive producers. Raimi was no longer involved with the project since December 2018. There have been no further announcements since.

Magic In 2022, producer Roy Lee revealed during an appearance on Post Mortem with Mick Garris that Raimi would be directing a new version of William Goldman's Magic; which had been made previously in 1978. By 2026, following the success of Send Help, screenwriters Mark Swift and Damian Shannon were set in place to adapt.

Untitled third Doctor Strange film In 2024, journalist Jeff Sneider reported that Raimi was nearing a deal about returning to direct a third Doctor Strange film for the MCU, following Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

As producer ArchEnemies As of September 2006, Raimi has signed a deal to adapt the series into a film. Screenwriter Patrick O'Neill (Knight and Day), was hired to write the script; Raimi will act as producer along with Mike Richardson and Josh Donen.

The Shadow On December 10, 2006, SuperHero Hype reported that Raimi would co-produce along producer Michael Uslan a new film adaptation of The Shadow for Columbia Pictures. On October 16, 2007, SuperHero Hype reported that Raimi was still planning The Shadow film along his producing partner Josh Donen. However, in 2011, it was reported that Quentin Tarantino would apparently direct the film without the presence of Raimi. At the end, on August 23, 2012, during a Q&A with ShadowFan, Raimi announced that he didn't develop a good script for the film and decided to abandon its production.

The Taking On December 18, 2006, it was announced that Raimi had formed a television unit of his production company Ghost House Pictures, and one of the first projects was a miniseries adaptation of the Dean Koontz novel The Taking. No further development had been made.

Monster Zoo In March 2008, Paramount Pictures and Sam Raimi were set to develop the graphic novel Monster Zoo from Doug TenNapel. However, the movie is in development hell.

Sleeper film In August 2008, Tom Cruise and Sam Raimi were in the process of creating a movie adaptation of Sleeper with Warner Bros., in which Cruise may have starred and Brad Ingelsby is writing the screenplay, but this rumor went cold. In November 2013, the magazine Variety reported that Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Todd took over the film as producers and Shawn Ryan and David Wiener to pen the film. Since then, there have not been any further announcements, falling into development hell.

Anguish remake