James Gunn's unrealized projects

During his long career, American film director James Gunn has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled.^[1][2]

1990s

Gilligan's Island

In the late 1990s, Gunn and Charlie Kaufman attempted to make a film adaptation of the 1960s television series Gilligan's Island, but as a cannibal film. Although the project was supported by Warner Bros., the film was never made because Sherwood Schwartz, who created the show, disapproved.^[3][4][5]

Silver Surfer

In 1999, an executive from 20th Century Fox offered to hire Gunn to write and direct a film about the Marvel Comics superhero Silver Surfer.^[1]

Spy vs. Spy

Also in 1999, Gunn wrote an unproduced screenplay adaptation of Spy vs. Spy. According to Gunn, Jay Roach was to have directed and Nicolas Cage and Eddie Murphy were to have starred.^[6][7]

2000s

Plastic Man

While much is not known about this project or how far it got, Gunn pitched a basic idea back in the early 2000s where Matthew Lillard would have starred as the titular, wise cracking hero.^[8]

The Newlyweds

In a 2002 interview with IGN, Gunn revealed that one of his next projects was a script called The Newlyweds for Warner Bros.,^[9] which ultimately was not produced.

Pure stage musical

Gunn also revealed that he and Tromeo and Juliet composer Willie Wisely were working on a stage musical called Pure. Gunn described said project as "a love story revolving around a guy who kills and tortures people because he thinks it helps him write and draw better children's books."^[9] While it was conceived for the stage, Gunn did eventually write a draft of it as a feature film in 2011.

Scooby-Doo 3

Gunn was to have helmed Scooby-Doo 3, which would have been the third film of Scooby-Doo (2002). However, due to the critical and financial failure of Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), Warner Bros. cancelled the project.^[2]

Creature from the Black Lagoon remake

In 2004, Gunn pitched to Universal Pictures his screenplay that was intended to be a remake of the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon, but the studio turned down the pitch.^[2]

Untitled Satan film

While promoting his film Slither (2006), Gunn revealed to IGN that he was in the process of writing a "much darker" movie about Satan. "I feel good about it," he said of the project at the time. "I think it's something special. [Slither] is really a call back to the '80s films and I think what I'm doing now, it's kind of its own thing."^[10]

Pets

In 2007, it was reported that Gunn was to write and direct a comedy film for New Regency titled Pets, with Ben Stiller serving as one of the producers.^[1][11] Gunn left the project due to creative differences.^[1][12]

The Belko Experiment

Main article: The Belko Experiment § Production

2010s

Thunderbolts

Main article: Thunderbolts* § Development

It's Alive remake

Larry Cohen said in a 2017 interview that Gunn had approached him for permission to make a remake of his 1974 film It's Alive. According to Cohen, Gunn "couldn't raise enough money to buy the rights. I'm sorry today I didn't give them to him."^[13]

Starsky & Hutch TV continuation

On August 31, 2017, Gunn was set to direct and co-write a dramatic continuation of Starsky & Hutch with his brother Brian & cousin Mark Gunn as co-writers for Prime Video.^[14] On July 24, 2018, an Amazon Studios spokesperson revealed on Yahoo! Finance that the series was cancelled months before Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.^[15]

Ravagers TV spinoff

In August 2017, Gunn said that he was in talks with Marvel Studios to make a Ravagers spinoff series.^[16][17]

Untitled Drax and Mantis spinoff film

In September 2017, Gunn said he would continue to work with Marvel Studios on projects that use the Guardians of the Galaxy.^[18] In 2021, actor Dave Bautista revealed that a film that Gunn "really wanted to do [was] a Drax and Mantis film". However, no follow-up was heard from the studio, so the idea was likely scrapped.^[19] These characters did get to later be featured in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

Untitled Batman film

In June 2025, Gunn revealed that in the middle of the pre-production of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Warner Bros. approached him to make a Batman film for the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). However, Gunn turned down the chance due to his focus on the third Guardians of the Galaxy film. After he was briefly fired from the project in 2018, Warner would offer him a Superman film (which according to him, if they had come up to him then with directing Batman, he would have said affirmatively), but Gunn ended up choosing to do a Suicide Squad film, which ended up becoming The Suicide Squad. Once president of DC Studios and one of the architects of the DC Universe (DCU), Gunn will produce the Batman film The Brave and the Bold.^[20]

2020s

The Suicide Squad sequel

In 2021, Gunn stated that he had ideas for a potential sequel to his film The Suicide Squad.^[21] In 2022, Gunn said there had been discussions about a sequel and he was considering it for his next feature film but his focus was on television for the foreseeable future following his positive experience making Peacemaker.^[22] The following June, Gunn said there would not be a sequel.^[23]

Untitled DCU project

In June 2025, Gunn confirmed he had recently "killed" a DC Universe (DCU) project that DC Studios had ready to go due to not being personally happy with the screenplay, this being part of his personal policy for the projects of the studio to be greenlighted.^[20]

The Authority

In July 2025, Casey Loving at TheWrap reported that Gunn was originally set to direct the DCU film The Authority, a superhero film based on the WildStorm comics featuring the eponymous team.^[24]