During his long career, American film director John McTiernan has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.
1980s The Quest of St. James Elk In 1981, McTiernan wrote the original screenplay for a planned film called The Quest of St. James Elk, which was to have been produced by Elliott Kastner through Winkast Film Productions, based at Pinewood Studios. However, the film was pulled from production just before the start. McTiernan's concept art and storyboards from the unproduced film were later salvaged and auctioned.
Sgt. Rock Shortly after they did Predator together, McTiernan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and writer Shane Black were all set to team on a big-budget film adaptation of the DC Comics character Sgt. Rock. According to McTiernan in the book The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semlyen, the project was heavily developed in 1988 and 1989 only to be demolished by actor John Cleese, who would have starred opposite Schwarzenegger. As McTiernan explained, everyone was so attached to the idea of Cleese co-starring with Schwarzenegger that when Cleese declined, the project fell apart. "As far as he was concerned, we were just a couple thug American action-movie makers," McTiernan said. "If he'd seen Die Hard, I think he probably would have signed up. But he judged us on our reputation." McTiernan would go on to make The Hunt for Red October instead. In a 1988 interview, it was suggested that McTiernan could possibly direct another film elsewhere before embarking on Sgt. Rock.
Cortes In 1988, McTiernan was approached to direct Cortes, a historical epic about Hernán Cortés from a Nicholas Kazan screenplay and with Edward R. Pressman producing, but Kazan and Pressman could not get the film funded.
Alien 3 Also in 1988, it was confirmed by McTiernan that he was involved during the early stages of development on a third Alien film, and held several discussions with the involved parties about directing it. "Walter Hill and I talked about it, and then... They had this script... It's the kind of thing that, for one reason or another, doesn't work out," said McTiernan. His proposal involved the Xenomorphs arriving on Earth and spreading some kind of virus, explaining his rationale: "In every Alien film, we get closer to Earth, but we never actually reach it. I asked them why they were doing that. For me, the only real threat was that the extraterrestrials would arrive on Earth." Though McTiernan was under the impression that Ridley Scott had gotten the position, Alien 3 was ultimately realized by David Fincher and did not see release until 1992.
Flight of the Intruder
The Adventures of Robin Hood As early as 1989, McTiernan had been attached to direct 20th Century Fox's The Adventures of Robin Hood, titled after the 1938 film, which was planned to be made after he finished Road Show. At the same time, two other competing Robin Hood projects were in development at Morgan Creek Entertainment and Tri-Star Pictures. All three intended to portray how Robin Hood became an outlaw hiding out in the Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. The central character of McTiernan's version was named Sir Robert Hode, a young Saxon noble more interested in wine and women, until the threat of a lashing by the Norman authorities sends him racing to the woods. The script was written by Mark Allen Smith. Fox hoped that Mel Gibson would agree to star in the film, though he turned it down over concerns of doing several "period pieces" in a row. In 1990, a race between the three projects ensued, with Tri-Star announcing a September 3 start date and Fox planning for an October 22 start. Plans, however, began to fall apart by late July when Kevin Costner signed on to star in Morgan Creek's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. According to director Kevin Reynolds, Costner had originally been offered to star in McTiernan's version but the producers at Morgan Creek offered him more money, so he joined their production instead. Though his was not made, McTiernan participated as executive producer in a low-budget, made-for-television version of Robin Hood which utilized Mark Allan Smith's story treatment.
1990s Road Show In February 1990, McTiernan was set to direct Road Show for 20th Century Fox, with Sean Connery and Cher set to possibly star. The film, a romantic action-adventure based on The Last Cattle Drive by Robert Day, was to have been produced by McTiernan along with his then-wife Donna Dubrow, who described it as "The African Queen on the range". Robert Getchell's adapted script had spent over a decade in development, with directors Martin Ritt and Richard Brooks both attached to helm at separate stages, before McTiernan's involvement. Filming was expected to officially begin that summer in Montana and Wyoming.
Clear and Present Danger
Hoffa An LA Times report stated that McTiernan had been one of the top contenders—alongside Barry Levinson and Oliver Stone—to take the helm of David Mamet's Hoffa screenplay. McTiernan met with producer Edward R. Pressman to discuss his vision for the story, but after actor Danny DeVito expressed enthusiasm in directing Hoffa at a meeting in April 1990, Pressman awarded him the job.
A Princess of Mars In late 1990, McTiernan became attached to direct a film based on the science fantasy novel A Princess of Mars. The project was part of his three-picture deal with Cinergi and was budgeted at $60 million. He hired screenwriter Bob Gale, whose take on the material offered more humor and incorporated elements from several earlier drafts written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. McTiernan also hired illustrator and concept artist William Stout, who would design several elaborate costumes for animals to wear. Stout later recalled of his experience working on the film:
By 1992, McTiernan had attached Sam Resnick, whom he had worked with previously on the television film Robin Hood, to rewrite. Around this time, Tom Cruise also became loosely attached to the project as John Carter, with Julia Roberts approached to play the Princess of Mars, Dejah Thoris. As development continued, McTiernan became increasingly dissatisfied with the limitations of the technology at the time, convinced that CGI was the only way to go. Ultimately, he left the project to direct Last Action Hero, but nevertheless was still paid for his work.
Die Hard 3: Troubleshooter Following the release of Die Hard 2—with which McTiernan had no involvement in—around 1991, he developed an unproduced iteration of a third film based on a spec script from 1990 titled Troubleshooter. The premise involved John McClane fighting terrorists aboard a cruise ship, and was later abandoned by the filmmakers due to conceptual similarities to the film Under Siege. According to McTiernan, Troubleshooter never happened because "Fox was wrangling with Bruce [Willis] over money." The studio later utilized most of the material they had developed for the film into Speed 2: Cruise Control, including "the ocean liner going on the beach."
The Firm
73 Easting In 1992, Tom Clancy was in negotiations with Universal Pictures to write his first screenplay for McTiernan to direct based on the experiences of three military captains who led an assault on Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard. The film was given the tentative title of 73 Easting and would have been made with the cooperation of the U.S. Army. The rights to the stories of the three soldiers were secured by Vecchio Productions, who was set to co-produce with McTiernan's own Tongue River Productions.
Texas Lead and Gold Around 1992, after the success of Unforgiven, McTiernan circled to direct the spec script Texas Lead and Gold by Jim Gorman and Michael Frost Beckner, which was described as an adventure story reminiscent of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It famously became the highest-selling screenplay at that time, producing a bidding war amongst various studios, with the first offer going for $1 million.
Bitterroot In April 1993, Paramount Pictures was developing Bitterroot, to have been directed by McTiernan and star Brad Pitt, who would eventually drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Offers had also gone out to Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise and Richard Gere, all of whom declined. Later that month, the film was put into pre-production turnaround, allowing McTiernan and producer Donna Dubrow to set it up at a rival studio following Paramount's concerns over the casting and the projected $50 million budget. According to Dubrow, the studio "seemed to feel that Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman weren't enough to proceed." Bitterroot was written by David Shaber and was to have told the story of the 1877 Nez Perce Indian War. In November 2009, McTiernan reaffirmed his intent to direct the film, saying it's a project he's "dreamed of making for a long time." He went on to add that if he were given a check for $150 million to make any film of his choosing, it would be the Nez Perce project, but specified that he would not require that amount. "For that price, I can make three films. Three big films, even." Two months later, Scottish filmmaker Diane Bell revealed to IndieWire that she was working with McTiernan on the script for Bitterroot.
Treasure Island As reported in June 1993, McTiernan had at once "toyed" with directing a film of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic Treasure Island, but since had opted to take on the producing role.
Captain Blood remake McTiernan was set to direct a remake of the 1935 film Captain Blood for Warner Bros., though he dropped out in December 1993 over creative differences and went on to do Die Hard with a Vengeance in its place. The script was written by Jonathan Hensleigh and McTiernan wanted Alec Baldwin to play the title role. Mel Gibson was also seriously considered to star as well, since his name would more easily obtain a greenlight.
Without Remorse In November 1993, Warner Bros. lined up McTiernan as its director of the screen adaptation of Tom Clancy's bestseller Without Remorse, which was to be written by Christine Roum and produced by Brandon Tartikoff. Roum was to have reportedly started writing the script by the end of that year. McTiernan was still attached to make the film by January 1995.
GoldenEye Before Pierce Brosnan was selected to be the new James Bond, McTiernan—who had worked with Brosnan on Nomads—had two meetings with series producers Albert R. Broccoli and his daughter Barbara about directing the next Bond film. He recalled, "About halfway through each of those lunches, [Broccoli] just dropped outta the conversation, 'cause he'd decided he wasn't letting me anywhere near his movie." However, McTiernan had recommended Brosnan for the role when they were contemplating who to cast, and the actor would go on to star in GoldenEye.
Juggernaut Around 1994, author and screenwriter Dan Bronson worked with McTiernan on a planned sci-fi action thriller called Juggernaut, which was set to be directed by McTiernan for MGM through his Tongue River Productions banner. Bronson had been working on the 1995 TV film Midnight Obsession, but left in order to write the script for Juggernaut instead. The film was never made.
The Hulk In the mid-1990s, Universal Pictures slated McTiernan to direct their version of The Hulk, based on the Marvel Comics character. Bodybuilder Joe DeAngelis was chosen for the part of Dr. Banner, and had even posed for Industrial Light & Magic animators. Universal terminated further plans when the projected budget rose above $100 million and the script turned off the worldwide fanbase. Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee later helmed the 2003 Hulk film, which used a different script and had Eric Bana in the title role.
Master and Commander