The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made

David Hughes' Greatest Movies Never Made

by David Hughes

Steven Spielberg's sci-fi horror movie Night Skies; David Lynch's Ronnie Rocket, Terry Gilliam's Watchmen; and Ridley Scott's I am Legend - these are just some of the legendary sci-fi films covered in this book. Legendary because none of them ever actually made it to the screen.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Media Tie In, History, Reference, Canon, Pop Culture

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

David Hughes has written about film for numerous newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian, Empire, GQ, SFX, Fangoria and Cinefantastique. He is the author of Virgin's The Complete Kubrick and The Complete Lynch, and wrote Titan Books' acclaimed The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

"In some ways, The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made is a tragedy. It's a melancholy examination of that which will never come to pass." -- from the author's afterword, on page 323

If there is a tragedy associated with this book, it is that it was outdated or obsolete only a few years after its initial 2001 publication or even with its 2008 slightly revised second edition. While it is not badly written - although some stretches are deadly dull with repetitive scenarios of writers and/or producers attempting to get a film project into production at a studio, which would seem to interest only the most die-hard of industry folks - over half of the works profiled here eventually made it to the silver screen in some form or another . . . with several of their chapters even ending with said unsurprising revelation. (?!) So that title is a bit of a misnomer, and there are also some haughty laughs to be had via 20/20 hindsight regarding mentions of uneven reactions and reception to the pre-2008 superhero movies, as the wildly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe (especially phases 1 through 3) and perpetual runner-up DC were largely still just a gleam in a fanboy's eye at the time.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have three problems with this book, and two of them are in the title.
One: of the 21 films described here, 15 have, in some form or another, been made. Admittedly, some of them were made between the first and second editions of this book, but it still rather gives the lie to the book's main selling point.
Two: I dispute the "greatest" in the title. In most cases they're simply high profile projects, the vast majority being remakes or adaptations of books or comics. The chapters on David Lynch's two original scripts Ronnie Rocket and One Saliva Bubble, and a script called The Tourist are by far the most interesting simply by virtue of the fact that they're something new that we haven't already seen or read. But are we to believe that big screen retreads of Thunderbirds or The Six Million Dollar Man were ever going to be genre classics?
Three: Most of the behind the scenes stories simply aren't that interesting. Cobbling together previously published interviews with writers and producers from magazines and websites, the same scenario is played out in almost every chapter: writers and producers sit in meetings disagreeing on which direction to go in, and eventually ordering another re-write. Repeat until everyone (including the reader) loses interest and walks away. It's telling that the best anecdotes come not from the offices, but from the set of The Island of Doctor Moreau, where the clashing egos and organisational chaos provide some fascinating and blackly comic material.
Fans will probably have read most of this material somewhere else already (do we really need yet another re-hash of the development process for Alien 3?), and those who haven't may be surprised at how dull screenwriting and producing movies sounds.

[Bryce Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it and weep literally.

Don't expect to stop imagining what could have been.

[Greg Pettit · Rating 2 out of 5]

A compilation of quotes and anecdotes about famous properties that have had long journeys to make it (or not) to the big screen.

The main problem I had with this book was that it just wasn't as interesting as you would think. I suppose that's somewhat inevitable when you're dealing with "what if" scenarios. Here, every chapter seemed exactly the same: someone had a screenplay, maybe the studio was interested, it was rewritten by someone else, management changed at the studio, now it's on, now it's off, so-and-so wants to star, it needs another rewrite, etc. It just got tiresome very quickly. It was like listening to someone at a bar talk about how great their life would have been if they had just completed that pass during the big high school championship game. Who cares?

Contributing to this is the style in which it was written. All the stories seem assembled from magazine articles and websites(?). If there was any original research done, it certainly didn't stand out. Maybe each chapter was originally written as a blog post, but for a book I needed more.

My last complaint is probably not the author's fault, but it's a big one. The pages are laid out with full justified paragraphs. This is a terrible idea for a book and the editor should be shot. Open to almost any page and you're greeted with a solid wall of gray text. Awful.

With all these complaints, why aren't I giving it just one star? Well, I think if I hadn't already been familiar with many of these stories then they would have been interesting. Also, the chapters are thankfully dedicated to particular movies, so it allows the reader to easily skip around to only what interests them. It's not a good book, but there are some decent tidbits if you're just curious about the subject.

[David Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very entertaining read if you are obsessed or even just mildly interested in the behind the scenes details of movie making. Hughes is a fluid and occasionally witty writer, and he squeezes enough interesting facts from his many sources.

There are so many interesting insights into the many failures and cock ups, that it can be hard to put down. Not all the examples are fully engaging, but the Star Trek, Island of Dr. Moreau and Hitchhikers chapters make up for these dips. Equally, it can become a depressing read learning of the movies that might never be seen. As this books is a few years old, you may find yourself having to look up many of these movies to see what has happened to them. Also, I don't think you need to be a sci-fi fan to find this book interesting. Highly recommended.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work provides an insight into the movie industry and the development of movies. While the original idea comes from a short story or novel, the movie script can be dramatically different. As executives in the industry change jobs the movie companies change priorities and views. New script writers and graphic artists are brought in as new ideas are pushed by the new executives. Thus the proposed movie will have many different drafts, many differing dramatically from each other. As the scripts float around the business, they are often cannibalized for their ideas and as a consequence the originally proposed movie may never get made.

[Beorn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably a fascinating read for anyone that's really interested in their films but for a curious outsider such as me it started out interesting and soon got a bit too much like repetitive cycles of hearsay and 'He said' 'She saids' about a lot of projects or films I never realised I cared so little about.

Overall, this would probably amaze and enthral those who are really heavily into their films but for me it was fairly flat.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for everyone but fascinating insight into the movie business.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a longtime film fan, one of the things that has always intrigued me is the uncompleted film project, the idea that for some reason stalls out and never makes it to fruition. This fascination is what made David Hughes’s book such an interesting read for me. Using a mixture of firsthand interviews and exploitation of fan and film literature he chronicles numerous projects, drafts, and proposals for science fiction movies. While many of the projects he chronicles never saw the silver screen, he also describes some of the abandoned drafts and visions for some of the most enduring franchises of the genre, such as the Star Trek and “Alien” series.

Some of his chapters will be heart-breaking for fans of the novels and franchises that underwent the process, yet reading the book offers insight into the convoluted process of film making. Reading it can often be saddening, as Hughes often succeeds in firing the imagination with description of unrealized projects that could have been breathtaking. Though true fans of these various franchises may be familiar with many of details Hughes describes, the book serves as a good overall account of Hollywood’s often awkward relationship with the genre and a nice gift for the sci-fi film fan in your life.

[Sean O'Hara · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a horribly disappointing book. While there are a few chapters devoted to interesting sci-fi ideas that never got off the ground, or books that were optioned for films and never made, mostly it tells the tales of good ideas that became bad movies. Except not even that. For example, there was never a good idea attached to Alien 3 -- the studio just wanted a sequel by a certain time, story be damned.

Almost all the information in this book can be gleaned from other sources. Want to know what went wrong with Alien 3? Read Wikipedia and the IMDb trivia page, find William Gibson's script online, and watch the 2.5 hour docu in the Quadrilogy boxset, and you'll know as much as David Hughes, since I suspect that's what his research consisted of. Among the sources he cites in the Alien 3 chapter is the "Alien 3 Movie Special," which, if I'm not mistaken, was the EPK that HBO ran before the movie came out. Elsewhere he quotes sites like Coming Attractions and Ain't It Cool News. If you're a movie geek, you probably know everything in this book already. If not, you probably won't care.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dull in a couple of chapters, but the majority was interesting. I now have like 5 or 6 new sci-fi books I want to read, based on the descriptions of the movies that could have been.

[Lee Penney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a look behind the Hollywood curtain to see how a movie makes it to the screen, or doesn’t. Most, in part because of the large amounts of money involved, go through long and arduous development processes where stars, directors and other talent come and go. This book focuses on sci-fi movies that didn’t see the light of day.

I don’t wish to be picky, but the title is inaccurate. Most of the films covered, which include Dune, Alien 3, Star Trek, Thunderbirds and John Carter of Mars, did actually get made. What we’re really talking about here are versions of those films that could have been made.

The production team behind many of the films changed numerous times and, it’s generally agreed, there were combinations attached at some point that could have resulted in great movies, or not, because we’ll never know.

In the case of Thunderbirds, practically any version bar the one that got released would have been an improvement, but would Nicholas Cage starring in Superman Lives and directed by Tim Burton have worked? I’m not so sure. And if, like me, you love David Lynch’s Dune, you can’t imagine Alejandro Jodorowsky’s version being an improvement.

The book also documents plenty of examples where you thank the stars that certain versions never saw the light of day and wonder what on Earth everyone involved was thinking. Thankfully saner heads (or studio politics) prevailed.

It’s a great, enthralling look at the Hollywood machine. Not only that, but it details a fair bit of backstory as well, outlining the plots of the novels discussed or the timeline for the comics that provided the source material.

One criticism is that it gets bogged down in that on occasion. The chapter on Star Trek, for instance, doesn’t look at a specific movie but goes through the development process right up to the J. J. Abrams reboot. The chapter on the The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was equally protracted, as were some others.

There’s some overlap with Hughes’ other work, Tales from Development Hell, and it appears I had similar criticism for that. There was enough new stuff to make this worth it though.

Even if you’re don’t love movies, as I do, this is still an enjoyable and fascinating telling of the stories behind what ends up on screen — some of which are better than the finished article.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had wanted to read a movie book again since I had not in a while. It's one of my favorite things to read about and something I feel closely connected to. Furthermore, Sci-Fi movies are the movies I really grew up with and even though I tend to find more interest in Thrillers as I grow older, I always come back to a good fantasy.

So after staring at my bookshelves, I came upon this title and realized I had never read it...so, hence here we are. The title alone of this book is a misnomer from the beginning as it contains many movies that were indeed eventually made. At the time of the book, a lot of these movies were sitting in development hell but in 2018, there is only a few in this book that really didn't see the light of day. This probably should have been called "The Greatest Versions of Sci-Fi Movies That Were Not Made but Eventually Were Made A Little Differently But Probably Shouldn't Have Been." But that does not make for a great book title and extensive worded covers aren't cheap.

The actual content of the book often reads like a history book. It is chock full of information, but there is very little character to the proceedings. It's hard to believe that chapters that read about the failed Fantastic Four or Island of Lost Souls read about as lifeless as the vehicles they turned into. I keep waiting for a more anecdotal type account of the movies that we want to be made and instead we get a lot of very dry material.

I found myself only really enjoying several chapters, material about Dune or I am Legend, both of which were made but certainly not the way they started out. The Stars My Destination oddly enough being the first chapter was probably the best one and really made me wish for such a movie to come into existence. But it was not meant to be.

Overall, I did enjoy David Hughes' take on these Sci-Fi pieces of development hell. I just think he tried to make it read more like a dusty cloth hardback next to the Sumner Welles The Time for Decision piece rather than say a book on Roger Corman attempt at Sci Fi greatness. Recommended for the information and to wish we still had a proper Dune movie (or at least a blu-ray of the extended cut).

[Andrew Fish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the first filmmakers decided they liked the reliable daylight of America's west coast, Hollywood has always been more about politics than art. Satirised in the 1930s by Wodehouse, it seems hardly to have changed. And, as modern blockbusters are made with ever increasing budgets, trying to get a film made has become increasingly difficult. With Sci-fi being perhaps the most expensive genre in the modern age, it has perhaps more projects stalled on the launchpad than any other. Hughes documents the stories of a number of these films, watching directors come and go, writers get chewed up and spat out and fads and fashions bring projects close to fruition only to be dropped when the tide turns.

Of course, the problem with any book like this is that - outside of a few sci-fi movies - time doesn't actually stand still. Since the first edition, a significant number of the films Hughes documents have actually been made, and this process has continued since the current edition, with John Carter of Mars - once mooted as the first full-length feature film, having been made very expensively only to flop disastrously at the box office (more or less killing the fad for fully motion-captured CGI films in the process). That doesn't mean the stories are no longer relevant, simply that they don't quite fit the title. Ironically, in the case of John Carter, it wasn't included in the first edition - leading to the amusing situation where the afterword, retained from that edition, bemoans its lack of inclusion despite following the chapter which covers it.

The second problem with the book, however, has less to do with Hollywood politics. With Hollywood's problems being somewhat systemic, the same problems tend to come up time after time, sometimes involving the same people. This, not unnaturally, renders the book rather repetitive and with the writing being more reportage than literature, it can get rather tedious after a while. That doesn't mean that it's without merit, but it's probably not a book to be read intensively. Once thing's for sure, next time you watch a disappointing film, you'll have a great deal more understanding of the causes of its failure.

[Aki Umemoto · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, this book should be titled "Sci-Fi Movies in Development Hell", since most of these first attempts of making blockbuster movies died in pre-production and half of these movies were eventually made into films: "Avatar", "I Am Legend", "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", "Thunderbirds", and others. Then in the last two chapters, the author follows two films: "Super Nova" and "The Island of Doctor Moreau" which started out with promise and then through changes (including the quitting or the firing of the director) became a totally different film. That last two chapters were highly interesting and wished he had more disasters to discuss than the bland screenwriters versus the studio clashes. It was fairly interesting, but as some reviewers had stated before, many of these stories were well known and the writing at times was a bit bland.

[Jon Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this on the Internet Archive, from a paperback copy scanned into the Archive. Normally I like books in the "making of the movie" genre, but somehow this one didn't scratch that itch. Maybe it's because it is about movies that lingered in development and turnaround hell for extended periods before expiring, rather that about movies that were made. Or maybe it's because the author seemed to use issues of "Starlog" and "Cinemafantastique" magazine for his facts and quotes, instead of interviews. I didn't check the source listing at the back of the book, so maybe the author did a lot of in person interviews with producers, writers, directors, and actors, but the book didn't read like he did. Three out of five stars.

[Serdar · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Forgot to add this earlier) Oh, what could have been! This is a splendidly researched and quite detailed rundown of a number of SF/fantasy movies that either never made it to theaters ("The Stars My Destination" [WHY, GOD, WHY], "The Tourist") or arrived in a ver-r-ry different form than their original conception ("The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"). Some of these come off not so much as injustices against man as they do mercy killings; e.g., one possible version of "Stars My Destination" sounded like it would have been an absolute embarrassment to all concerned. Especially the audience.

[Satdeep Grewal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really fascinating stuff in here, especially loved the chapters on Dune and Star Trek. I found the style of writing a tad repetitive which made me put down the book a few times but realised some chapters you might as well skip if they involve films you're not that interested in. I feel like I learnt a lot of fun facts overall.

[Luke Cavanagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read, if you where ever interested about the film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that almost happened in the 80s. Why did the Ridley Scott directed I Am Legend adaption not happen as well as many other unmade sci-fi films that would have been classics.

[David Mcquillen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though it's SF themed, its truest value lies in how it lays bare the vicissitudes and complete unpredictability of the feature film development process.

Should be required reading at every film school in America.

[CJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough. Best thing I learned was how little originality there is in Hollywoodland. Even less that I thought, with all these ideas being recycled.

[Willy Boy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable and interesting.

[Steven Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun... Also superbly out of date, so very interesting to see the films that got made eventually. It's got James Cameron writing off Avatar as too expensive and difficult for example.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Science fiction has always been my genre of choice. Retro SF, to be precise--stories set before the moon landing, and anything seemed possible (instead we got moon rocks and a barren moon, devoid of atmosphere). SF fan though I am, I have yet to get to know and watch a single episode of Star Trek. And I never liked Star Wars, never watched any of the movies in its entirety. Finally, not being a snob about it (ok, maybe just a little), but David Hughes has probably never read Asimov's essay, where he scoffs at calling this sci-fi, preferring to refer to the genre, the worthy ones that is, as SF. On to my review:

For the past few years, and since Goodreads asks you, my annual reading goal has been pegged at 50 books. I read 61 books in 2019. But surprisingly, with all the allotted downtime during 2020's pandemia, I only read 49*. This was supposed to have been my 50th book, and as of December 31 I was already midway through. I could have easily sped up my reading, but it was much too engaging to just breeze through. Published in 2001, parts of the book feel dated, and projects like the seemingly impossible to pull off Avatar by James Cameron and Richard Matheson's I Am Legend have since killed it at the box office. But for a literary and cinema SF fan like me, this has been an interesting, educational read. I learned just how many mutations a story can go through before it finally makes it to the cinema, the pecking order of a movie's production line, from creator to producer to director, and the mounting body count of scriptwriters, even directors, as the project progresses. Most palpable are the frustrations of the story's creator, once they relinquish the story to the movies. And with all the exponential payments made out to scriptwriters, actors, directors, designers and/or their replacements, you realize just how much moolah goes into the making of a movie, and why studios in search of a blockbuster now need the backing of toymakers, who are very much in a position to call the shots. One of the most ridiculous cut-your-losses decisions discussed here was the $20 million dollars Warner Bros paid Nicholas Cage for a Superman movie that never took off. The same production paid $5 million to Tim Burton. For a movie that never was!

In conclusion, this book reveals just why Hollywood needs all those lawyers--there are just too many contractual loopholes and wiggle room in options, rights, distribution, etc. There are two stories here which I'd like to see on film one day: Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination (which, surprisingly, I haven't read yet), and Marvel's Silver Surfer.

*My piano playing is competing with my reading. Since the lockdown and its different labels and gradations started on April 3, 2020, I've been churning out one piano piece per day, and uploading this daily on Facebook. And as the virus continues to dominate, this will go on indefinitely. I don't know why I do this, but I think when you're faced with this kind of helplessness, you need to find something you feel you can be in control of. Hence, the piano playing, the determination to learn a piece well enough to upload a new one each day.

[Jeff Mikules · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made reminds me so much of just about every place I've ever worked: inflated egos, incomprehensibly ridiculous decisions made by the big bosses, a great amount of infighting, incredible stubbornness, new bosses coming in and "shaking things up", the stifling of creativity, the crushing of dreams, and every major decision boiling down to the almighty dollar and simple, but not always unwarranted, fear.
Since the book was published in 2001, many of the movies discussed have already graced the silver screen (for better or worse), but the stories told are still entertaining and full of great quotes, anecdotes, and details about the ins and outs of trying to get a picture made. Films such as Avatar, Watchmen, and Spiderman have already come and gone, but the tales of how they failed to arrive sooner, with dramatically different production teams, are still interesting. They will leave you with a sadness for what might have been as you imagine what James Cameron's Spiderman would have looked like, or the unrealized sci-fi project by David Lynch.
Even more fascinating are the possibilities of how the whole landscape of cinema might have been altered had some of these movies came to fruition back then. For instance, had one of Steven Spielberg's unrealized pictures been made, we most likely would have never gotten both E.T. and Poltergeist. Had other movies gone forward, their ultimate successes or failures could have drastically determined the trends and direction of later films. Pondering the possibilities is a whole experience in itself.
Despite some reviewer's qualms of outdated material or their perceived liberal use of the term "Greatest" in the title, there are many things to enjoy here, and this book, along with The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made, would make an excellent edition to the library of any cinephile. If the behind-the-scenes aspect of filmmaking is at all something which interests you, then definitely give this one a try. Unless you're an avid reader of old film magazines, and have devoured every article and interview on the discussed pictures, you're sure to find something you didn't know before.
Happy Reading!
J.A.M.

[Dimitris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this is awkward. Finished the book in three days and long readings they were, no doubt about it. The book is interesting, but despite that I wouldn't call it a book you just have to read. It's a bit sad to feel that all this research does not make a good book. Too much executive angst and long story short, "we got this guy/gal who can write (remember this and that amazing script?)but his/her particular draft was horrible or they destroyed an almost excellent draft we had/we chose another film over this one because of lack of money or someone's histrionic tantrums or because every single director had to have a say on the story or the actor didn't like the director or the producers did not like any or all or none of the above." A soap opera really.
After a while, it seems most of these stories could have been made up (which is not me saying I suppose they did) but although fun for a while, it was mainly a compulsive read and hardly anything to give a second read. For quite a niche subject, I doubt I would have any use for neither the language which was simple, direct but hardly literary nor the information which is a heap of what if's centred around execs with a ton of money and time and a say on everything.

If anything, the book is a paean to independent filming, albeit indirectly as the real message is sci-fi is often expensive, dull and uninspiring because of corporate-induced compromise or artistic but bland as Dark Star's beach-ball alien.Seriously, what was that anyway?

Read with caution/ at your own risk (hopefully not expense).

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I've said in other reviews, I'm more interested in what could have been rather than what we have. I love the mythos surrounding shelved projects, and there's an air of intrigue. This book not only takes this baton but runs all the way to the end with some of the most in-depth research I've ever seen in such a casual book, even if it does feel like several blog posts stitched together. That being said, the more you read the more you realise much of this could be taken from anywhere online which renders the experience a touch redundant. My main issue though is that many of these films did actually get made in some form or another. Two notable examples are Dune and I Am Legend. It was intriguing to read the nightmarish developments from behind the scenes but ultimately I felt a little misled. There were many examples of scripts being thrown around like confetti, passing hands from directors like the screenplay was a hot piece of coal.

By the fourth or fifth film, I could see a pattern - these weren't necessarily "great" by status, more because of who was attached. I know things like this are subjective but I don't consider them the greatest never made, especially since many were received poorly and even more actually made it to the big screen. Unfortunately, I overall found this book rather dull. The behind the scenes stories are the same overall; "director was let go, new writer brought in, project abandoned after so many million dollars, rinse and repeat".

[Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book suffers from a small problem -- since it first came out, about half the movies in it have actually been made! In fact, they just put out a new edition. A more accurate take on this book is "The Greatest VERSIONS of Sci-Fi Movies Never Made." From Kevin Smith's Superman to James Cameron's Spider-Man to Ridley Scott's I AM LEGEND, this details the long and arduous process that leads to a big-budget SF film getting made. In some cases, you'll wish we could have gotten the different versions described here...and often, you'll thank God we didn't. Be sure to check out the color insert for some great concept art, including Neal Adams' takes on "Childhood's End" and "The Stars My Destination."

[Gareth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining investigation into Hollywood and some fascinating glimpses of movies that will never be. "The Tourist" is the strongest contender for a lost classic, whilst I'm delighted that "The Silver Surfer" never made it to the cameras. A shame that Peter Howitt's version of "Thunderbirds" never got off the ground, whilst its fascinating to think that "John Carter of Mars" might have gone down in history as the world's first animated feature film.

There plenty of great stories about dim-witted bosses and director's egos, but also some real artists too. And the nightmarish tale of Richard Stanley and what happened to his "Island of Dr Moureu" would make a great film in itself.

Recommended to all SF film fans.

[Nathan Worthington · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look behind the scenes of Hollywood at how movies are made (or not made in the cases mentioned in the book). The book examines at least 21 movies that have been stuck in 'development hell' for years. Among those featured are the following science fiction movies (with the directors who were attached to each of the projects): Night Skies by Steven Spielberg, Childhood's End by Stanley Kubrick, Star Trek: Planet of the Titans by Philip Kaufman, Six Million Dollar Man by Kevin Smith, Superman Lives by Tim Burton, John Carter of Mars by Jon Favreau. While some of these projects and movies would have been interesting to see at the theater, others are absolute disasters. I guess only in the Twilight Zone will these movies become a reality.