After names like Ian Holm, Alec Guiness, Laurence Olivier and Patrick Magee were thrown around, David Hemmings (“ Blow-Up,” “ Camelot”) was to play the lead, with Audrey Hepburn as Joséphine. Originally proposed as his next project after “ 2001: A Space Odyssey,” Kubrick pitched the movie as a $5 million production (roughly $100 million in today’s dollars) with extraordinarily ambitious plans that included upwards of 30,000 men as extras for the battle scenes. By the time he was done, interested studios like MGM and then United Artists essentially got cold feet, believing historical epics had gone out of vogue. What Happened?: In short, Kubrick went on an obsessive quest to turn over every stone and got caught down the rabbit hole of his endless and meticulous research. What Was It?: Kubrick’s “Napoleon” was to be at once a character study and a sweeping, gigantic epic, covering not only his genius, but his early life in Paris and as a protégé of various affluent families. Or for reductive purposes: the Greatest Movies Never Made. So without further ado, let’s get speculative about 25 of the most exciting projects ever to hover in the ether just beyond our reach. The Extra-Terrestrial' Still Doesn't Get the Credit It DeservesĮmmy Predictions: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Brian Cox May Trump His 'Succession' Sonīest Movies Never Made: 35 Lost Projects from Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, and More The 15 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix Of course, the choices are numerous, so narrowing the list has proven an argumentative, though entertaining, process. With that (somewhat hilarious) paradox in mind, we thought we’d succumb to the temptation of “what if”-ing ourselves and recall some of the most delicious “oh-my-god, could-you- imagine?” unmade projects that have snagged our attention. As myths perpetuate and proliferate, “famously unproduced masterpieces” can sometimes loom larger in estimation than actually realized masterpieces that you can watch whenever you want, because just by actually getting made, a film is compromised from all the wondrousness it could have been, and reduced to what it is. And if it had been good, or even excellent, it still wouldn’t have had that tantalizing, imagination-firing quality of being all things to all geeks, of dwelling in that realm of perfect imagination. The documentary, loving and insightful, also flirts with perhaps the essential idea behind these “what if?” scenarios: the film’s ambition is undeniable, but its “greatness” can only ever exist as a hypothesis because the actuality, had it happened, could well have been a spectacular folly.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |