During his long career, Dutch film director Paul Verhoeven has worked on many projects that never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell into development hell, were officially cancelled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.

1980s Return of the Jedi

After Steven Spielberg turned down the director's position on Return of the Jedi, he recommended Verhoeven for the job. George Lucas quickly decided against it after seeing the graphic content in Verhoeven's Spetters. "I suppose he was scared that the Jedi would immediately start fucking each other", Verhoeven later joked.

Judge Dee In 1981, Verhoeven pitched the idea of making a film on the fictional Chinese detective character Judge Dee to various Hollywood studios, later claiming that he had an option on the Robert van Gulik novels well before Rita McMahon and Francoise De Leu gained the rights for their Dee Productions banner. According to Verhoeven, development stalled on the project as every studio was "terrified of doing a picture in China with Chinese people". By 1988, Verhoeven teamed with producer Mike Wise, McMahon and De Leu and was officially attached to direct Judge Dee for Tri-Star as a major production with the People's Republic of China. At the same time however, filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci was circling another version with producer Franco Giovale. There was talk of John Lone starring in the main role as Dee in Verhoeven's film, but the casting process was affected by the WGA strike which had halted development of the script by Rospo Pallenberg. In 1991, Judge Dee was listed as being among 21 projects in development at Cinergi Pictures, with Verhoeven still attached.

Death Comes as the End In 1984, following the release of The Fourth Man, Verhoeven announced that he planned to film Agatha Christie's historical mystery novel Death Comes as the End as his next project.

White Trash In the 1980s, a script by RoboCop screenwriter Edward Neumeier entitled White Trash was developed at Carolco Pictures with Verhoeven attached as the director. The log line reads: "A southern woman hires a mercenary to kill her sister's husband". Approximately $320,000 in production costs was spent.

Dinosaur

Black Rain

Around 1988, Verhoeven was preparing to direct Black Rain with Michael Douglas starring; however, he left the project due to its lengthy development and accepted an offer to do Total Recall instead. Black Rain was thus directed by Ridley Scott, and opened the following year.

Rescue In 1989, Jeffrey Lurie announced he would be producing Rescue, a political action-thriller about the South African secret police. Verhoeven would have directed the project via Lurie's Chestnut Hill Productions.

1990s Leningrad: The 900 Days In May 1990, it was announced by producer Alberto Grimaldi that Verhoeven would take over the director's position of Leningrad: The 900 Days following Sergio Leone's death, and that production would take place the following year.

Women In the early 1990s, Verhoeven was lined up to direct a screen version of Charles Bukowski's Women, a fictionalized account of the author's experiences with sex and romance.

Fallen Angels TV series

In 1992, Verhoeven was listed among several directors attached to do a half-hour episode of an anthology series set up at Showtime, which would be titled Fallen Angels. The series aimed to adapt crime stories by writers including Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Cornell Woolrich and James M. Cain.

Mistress of the Seas Verhoeven was attached to direct the film adaptation of John Carlova's book Mistress of the Seas for Columbia Pictures, with Geena Davis attached to star and a planned production start between November 1993 and January 1994. However, on July 13, 1993, it was announced that Verhoeven would no longer direct the film due to creative differences. Davis would end up making Cutthroat Island instead.

Crusade

In 1993, Verhoeven began pre-production on the historical epic Crusade for Carolco, with Arnold Schwarzenegger set to star and John Turturro, Robert Duvall and Jennifer Connelly in talks to join the project. Carolco ultimately shelved the project owing to its projected $100 million budget, and Verhoeven eventually moved on to other projects. Walon Green wrote the script. In 1999, there were talks of Crusade potentially being revived.

Bimbos Before the release of Showgirls, Verhoeven had planned a follow-up called Bimbos which would have seen the character of Nomi, played by Elizabeth Berkley, going to Hollywood. However, due to the film's box-office failure, ideas for a sequel were scrapped. "If we could only make Elizabeth Berkley 20 years younger now, I would love to make Bimbos today", Verhoeven said in 2015. A standalone sequel, titled Showgirls 2: Penny's from Heaven, was produced, but without the involvement of Verhoeven or Berkley.

The Alienist In May 1995, after an initial delay in the start date for production of Starship Troopers, Verhoeven told Variety that he had become interested in adapting Caleb Carr's The Alienist for Scott Rudin at Paramount. "I started reading the book and was intrigued, then I put it down when I read another director was doing it", he said. After Curtis Hanson's planned adaptation fell apart, Verhoeven returned to the project.

Marquis de Sade Also in May 1995, Verhoeven was developing a Marquis de Sade biopic, telling Variety that Walon Green was going to soon begin writing the second draft. Carolco Pictures was originally involved in the $1 million book purchase, though the French company Chargeurs later took control of the project. Sharon Stone was allegedly set to reunite with Verhoeven for the project, in which she was to play de Sade's "baleful mother". In a 1997 interview, Verhoeven also pondered hiring Jerry Goldsmith to compose the score for the Marquis de Sade project.

Houdini On July 10, 1997, it was reported that Verhoeven was in negotiations to direct a film about the mysterious life of Harry Houdini with Tom Cruise to star in the film for Columbia Pictures. The script was written by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson. Ang Lee became attached in his place by summer the following year.

Official Assassins On August 5, 1998, Verhoeven struck a deal to develop and direct Official Assassins for Phoenix Pictures and Kingsgate Films. Set in post-World War II Berlin, the project was loosely based on Capt. Peter Mason's non-fiction account of the same title about his intelligence activities for the British government. Chris Bertolini was to write the film. On June 14, 2002, Verhoeven confirmed that Official Assassins had been cancelled indefinitely: "It's very critical of the U.S. government and I had to stop casting because nobody wanted to do it".

The Secret Road On November 1, 1999, it was reported that Verhoeven was on board to direct The Secret Road, a film proposal based on a treatment written by journalist and producer Howard Blum for Columbia Pictures. Verhoeven had long hoped to make a film about a young Adolf Hitler, wanting The Secret Road to feature Hitler's Germany as its main antagonist.

2000s With Wings as Eagles On February 10, 2000, it was rumored that Verhoeven would re-team with star collaborator Arnold Schwarzenegger on a World War II film titled With Wings as Eagles.

Rasputin On May 29, 2000, it was reported that Verhoeven would direct Rasputin, written by Roselyne Bosch based on the life of Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin. Budgeted at $50 million, the film was to have been produced through Légende Entreprises.

Other Powers On August 14, 2000, it was reported that Verhoeven was pursuing the biopic Other Powers as his next project, based on Barbara Goldsmith's 1998 biography about early suffragette leader Victoria Woodhull.Tom Cruise was attached to produce, with Nicole Kidman in mind for the role. On June 14, 2002, Verhoeven stated: "The Woodhull project is written, but I've not been able to find financing – I'm waiting to hear from Nicole".

The Source On May 12, 2001, it was reported that Verhoeven would return to Europe to make The Source, a film based on Guy de Maupassant's Mont-Oriol, set in 1882. Adapted by Julie Talen, Gerard Soeteman and Verhoeven himself, the project was scheduled to begin production the following year in spring, produced by Jeremy Thomas with a budget of $30 million.

Batavia's Graveyard On April 11, 2002, it was reported that Verhoeven was to direct the epic film Batavia's Graveyard, about the aftermath of the shipwreck the Dutch East India Company's flagship. Gerard Soeteman, a screenwriter who worked with Verhoeven previously, was set to write the screenplay adaptation of the historical novel on which the film would have been based. Verhoeven described Mike Dash's book as "an adult Lord of the Flies"; he added: "This is a fantastic story, because it gives us an ultra-villain, let's say a proto-Hitler". As of 2003, Verhoeven was in preproduction on the film through the British Film4 company and was then attempting to secure the use of a lifesize replica of the actual Batavia ship. Then, in 2005, it was reported that the Dutch Film Fund would be investing in the development of the project, which had since stalled when financing fell through. At the time of the announcement, Soeteman was midway through writing the screenplay.

Solace

On April 3, 2003, Verhoeven was in negotiations with New Line Cinema to direct the thriller Solace. Written by Ted Griffin and Sean Bailey, Solace centers on a psychic detective tracking a killer who leaves behind no clues while terrorizing New York. Prior to Verhoeven's involvement, Nick Cassavetes and Miguel Sapochnik had been attached to direct. The film was ultimately released in 2015, directed by Afonso Poyart.

Untitled Jan Montyn biopic On April 23, 2003, Verhoeven was planning to shoot a biopic on the Dutch artist Jan Montyn, which would have been based on the novel Montyn, written in 1982 by Dirk Ayelt Kooiman. The script was being written by Edwin de Vries, and was to have been produced by Volkert Struycken and Errol Nayci.

The Paperboy On October 10, 2003, Verhoeven revealed in an interview that he had written an English language script with Jan de Bont called Paperboy, and that filming was expected to start before the end of the year. The script was based on the novel The Paperboy by Pete Dexter, and was later officially reported in 2007 to be going into production in Florida and Louisiana, with Verhoeven directing and de Bont producing. The film was budgeted at $27 million.A film of the novel was later made, but directed by Lee Daniels.

Beast of Bataan On May 5, 2005, Verhoeven was set to direct Beast of Bataan, a feature adaptation based on A Trial of Generals by author Lawrence Taylor. According to Variety, the film "follows the war crimes trial of Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma at the end of WWII." Screenwriter Mark Jean wrote the adaptation, and although no cast members were announced to be attached at the time, Verhoeven planned to go into production that winter. Verhoeven was later replaced by director Fred Schepisi due to scheduling conflicts and his commitment to Black Book.

Azazel On May 12, 2005, Verhoeven was interested in directing and producing the film adaptation of Boris Akunin's novel The Winter Queen with Thomas Hedman and Alan Marshall producing the film through Seven Arts Entertainment and Future Film. On February 11, 2007, it was reported that the film, retitled Azazel, was set to go into production in the summer that year and shoot in St. Petersberg and London. On November 9, 2009, Verhoeven was replaced as the director by Fyodor Bondarchuk.

Kneeling on a Flowerbed of Violets