Over the course of his extensive career, American-born British film director Terry Gilliam has been involved in numerous projects that failed to advance beyond the pre-production phase under his direction. Several of these ventures became stalled in development hell or were cancelled. The following is a list of projects in roughly chronological order.
20th century Theseus and the Minotaur Right after he finished Jabberwocky (1977), Gilliam's next film project would be Theseus and the Minotaur, based on Greek mythology. The film was shelved when Gilliam chose to make Time Bandits (1981) instead, though he later pursued it again following the release of 12 Monkeys (1995). In 1997, when he returned to the project, he enlisted the help of screenwriter Tony Grisoni whose script The Lives of the Saints had impressed him a few years earlier.
Gormenghast After directing The Life of Brian, Gilliam considered making a film adaption of Mervyn Peakes' fantasy novel Gormenghast. The owner of the rights wanted Peter Sellers to play the character Doctor Prunesquallor. Gilliam ultimately decided to not make the film because he had spent too much time thinking about it, did not have enough money to make it, and had already reused some of his ideas for it in his film Jabberwocky.
Monty Python's World War III Before the Pythons came up with the idea for Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, they had begun writing a new movie called Monty Python's World War III.
Fungus the Bogeyman Terry Gilliam was at one point interested in making a film adaption of the children's picture book Fungus the Bogeyman, before a television adaption was released by BBC in 2004.
Watchmen
In 1989, Gilliam and film producer Joel Silver unsuccessfully attempted to make a film adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen. Gilliam was, reportedly, Moore's first choice to direct the film. Gilliam tried to make the film again in 1996 but was unsuccessful.
A Scanner Darkly In the early 1990s, Gilliam attempted to make a film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly.
Into the Woods In the 1990s, Gilliam met with Stephen Sondheim for a film adaptation of the latter's show Into the Woods that Paramount Pictures was supposed to produce, with Robin Williams and Emma Thompson as the Baker and Baker's Wife, but Gilliam refused to do it because he thought the script was less good than the original. In 2022, Gilliam would return to the property to direct a revival of the broadway show.
The Defective Detective In April 1992, it was reported that Gilliam was going to make The Defective Detective next after The Fisher King (1991), only to abandon it in favor of making a Don Quixote film. Then, Gilliam worked on the film again, only to reject it in favor of directing 12 Monkeys (1995) instead. Then, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1996 that Gilliam was working on the script with Richard LaGravenese. According to the L.A. Times, the story was "about a middle-aged New York cop who's having a nervous breakdown and ends up in a fantasy world." The film was to have been produced by Scott Rudin and Margie Simkin and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Nicolas Cage was to star in the film. In addition to Cage, Bruce Willis, Cameron Diaz, and Nick Nolte were attached to the project. Danny DeVito was also attached to the project. Gilliam claims that Sean Connery was also involved. In February 1997, Paramount put the film in turnaround. In June 2015, Gilliam hinted that The Defective Detective could possibly be made into a miniseries on Amazon Prime Video. Variety reported in November that same year that Gilliam and LaGravenese regained the rights to the script from Paramount and "reworked it as a six-hour miniseries." In 2025, Gilliam showed optimism of the script being revived in the wake of new management changes at Paramount. Later that year, in October, he was said to be pushing for Paramount to greenlight The Defective Detective. "I'd like to direct it before I die. [...] it should be my last film," Gilliam said.
Cartooned In October 1992, it was reported in Variety that Gilliam was signed to direct a film called Cartooned for producer Laura Ziskin. The big-budget project was in "fast-track development" at TriStar Pictures.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court It was reported in 1993 that Gilliam was going to direct a film adaptation of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court for Warner Bros. and producer Jerry Weintraub, with the script written by Robert Mark Kamen. The film got cancelled when financing fell through.
A Tale of Two Cities In 1994, Gilliam attempted to make a film adaptation of Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities with Mel Gibson starring. However, Gibson dropped out of the project in favor of directing and starring in Braveheart (1995). After Gibson left the project, Gilliam replaced him with Liam Neeson and attempted to make the film for half the initial budget, but to no avail. Madeleine Stowe was also attached to the project. The film was ultimately shelved due to budget and casting reasons. Gilliam then made 12 Monkeys (1995) instead. When asked in 2009 if he still expressed interest in making the film, Gilliam replied, "Nah. That's dead. That's over." However, in 2014 he stated, "Tale of Two Cities, I think, is dead... unless Johnny Depp wants to do it. He's always been a possibility for that."
Loony Tunes Also in 1994, Gilliam was involved as director of a script called Loony Tunes, which revolved around a normal guy who continually morphs into a cartoon character. Gilliam worked for months on the idea, "but it went nowhere." A similarly plotted film, The Mask (1994), was made instead.
The Crowded Room In 1995, Gilliam was linked to The Crowded Room, a starring vehicle for Brad Pitt that had been touted as a possible reunion for the two following their work on 12 Monkeys. However, neither party stayed with the project and both would move on to other ventures.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Also in 1995, Gilliam was planning a new version of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, from a script by Rupert Walters. Gérard Depardieu was to star, but Gilliam left the project by February 1996 upon seeing the trailer for the Disney animated version. "I'd been seeing scripts for years and this one was the first one which had them all dying at the end which is the only ending you can have," said Gilliam. "It was really good. Then I saw the animated one and it has all the shots I wanted to do."
Time Bandits II In 1996, Gilliam and Charles McKeown wrote two drafts of an unproduced script titled Time Bandits II, which would have been the sequel to Time Bandits (1981). Gilliam was to have produced the sequel and not direct it. In 2001, Gilliam and McKeown attempted to make Time Bandits II as a television miniseries for the Hallmark Channel.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Gilliam was reportedly J.K. Rowling's first choice to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), the first film of the Harry Potter movies. In a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gilliam stated, "J.K. Rowling and the producer wanted me. Then wiser people — studio heads — prevailed. I was the clear choice. At one point they approached Alan Parker and he said, 'Why are you talking to me? Gilliam is the guy who should be doing this!' But I knew I was never going to get the job." Gilliam was ultimately rejected by Warner Bros. Instead, the studio replaced Gilliam with Chris Columbus. Gilliam reportedly criticized the studio's decision to pick Columbus over him and stated, "I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian." In 2011, Gilliam expressed his regret at ever entering into talks to direct the first Harry Potter film.
Good Omens In December 1999, Gilliam announced a film of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens that both he and Tony Grisoni were to adapt. Almost immediately, the work halted due to problems sourcing a firm deal on the prospective film only to be restarted in August when a deal with Renaissance Films for the script development was sealed. However, any subsequent plans faltered in the wake of the September 11 attacks, when Johnny Depp and Robin Williams were to have appeared as the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale, respectively. Gaiman wrote in his blog in 2002 that the film simply needed a studio to financially commit to making it, but no one had done so yet. In a 2005 interview, Gilliam named Good Omens as the unrealized project he worked on the most: "We managed to raise $45 million around the world, got Robin Williams and Johnny Depp to come onboard the project and just needed another $15 million from the U.S., and we couldn't get it. With those two stars and most of the budget secure, we simply couldn't get it. That's how crazy it is in this business! Now that Pirates of the Caribbean has happened and moved Johnny up a few notches as a star, Good Omens might therefore still be possible. We have made all the preparations: designs, found locations... it's ready to go into production." The following year, he stressed the dependency on "A-list actors" in order for the project to be able to move forward, saying "we are much more dependent on other people, whereas if we were working with a smaller budget it's usually easier. Yet Stephen Evans, the producer of Good Omens, says it's sometimes easier to raise 80 million dollars than it is raising 8 million dollars." Two years later, Gilliam would express optimism to Empire about the film getting a second chance due to the then-recent successes of Gaiman's Stardust and Beowulf (both 2007). In 2014, when asked by The Playlist if the resurgence of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) might allow other completed screenplays to surface, he singled out Good Omens, saying how he was considering executing their material for it as a six-part TV series instead of a film. Ironically, the story was eventually adapted in 2019 as a six-episode series, but without using Gilliam and Grisoni's script. It starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant in the main roles.
21st century The Master and Margarita In his introduction to Black Snow by Mikhail Bulgakov, Gilliam revealed that he was—on several occasions—in contention to direct a film version of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. However, he cited his reluctance to adapt the author's material as the reason why he evaded the various attempts throughout the 2000s.
Geek Love Recurring star-collaborator Johnny Depp supposedly wanted to play Arturo the Aqua Boy—an eccentric character from Katherine Dunn's novel Geek Love—so much that he urged Gilliam to direct a film version. However, Tim Burton would end up buying the rights. The book was resonant enough for Gilliam that, by 2010, he was still trying to adapt it, albeit in the form of a West End stage play. When asked in a 2020 interview if he was still interested in making a film of Geek Love, Gilliam answered that he would love to, and said how it would be easier to visualize the work with new technology, but was skeptical about finding financiers. He also remained open to the possibility of it being produced as a streaming series rather than a feature.
Scaramouche In 2002, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Gilliam had entered talks to direct a new version of Scaramouche, the classic swashbuckling adventure novel by Rafael Sabatini. A month later, Hotdog magazine reported that Scaramouche "looks set to take Gilliam's unique directorial eye back a couple of centuries with Johnny Depp's clown-disguised hero clashing swords with a moustache-twirlingly villainous Jeff Bridges."
Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem