Development hell

Development hell, also known as development limbo, is a term used to describe works of media, specifically films, that remain in development for an especially long time and thus have not yet progressed to production.

Movie Production Rushing is the opposite problem, where a movie is rushed into production to coincide with a holiday or another event, which causes the movie to be unfinished and garner negative reception. (M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender is an example of such a case.)

There's an article similar to this on Crappy Games Wiki & Terrible Shows & Episodes Wiki.

Criteria
There are many reasons for a film to remain in development hell:
 * 1) No director is attached to the project: every film needs to have a director attached to the project, otherwise, the project would not go anywhere if it were to lack a director.
 * 2) Script disagreements: every film requires some sort of screenplay, and disagreements between screenwriters over what the film should be are quite often known to postpone projects.
 * 3) Difficulty finding actors for the cast: every film needs to have actors willing to star in it, otherwise the project would go nowhere as no one would play the role necessary for any specific character.
 * 4) Refusal to reprise the role from prior works: a minor one, but especially true for sequels, when the original actor or actress refuses to reprise their role from prior works, the filmmakers would either scrap the project altogether or re-cast the character.
 * 5) Executive meddling: executives in Hollywood, or around the world for that manner, are sometimes known for meddling in nearly every project over what they like or dislike; they may also have the power to delay projects or even force said project to be different from what the director originally intended.
 * 6) Re-shoots: aside from executives meddling in the development of projects, they can also force directors off of projects nearly every time they are dissatisfied with their work, forcing the executives to complete the projects themselves or hire a new director altogether.
 * 7) Waiting for approval to be adapted: approval for literature, video games and series to be adapted into films often take a while to be approved, so it is understandable for film studios to wait to start projects based on any specific property until they get approval.
 * 8) Lack of studio interest in the project: this is often the killing factor of any film stuck in development hell, simply because the studio is more interested in other film projects at the moment instead.
 * 9) Either troubled production, lack of funding, or both: reports of trouble on the sets of upcoming films are universally considered to be the killing factor of any audience excitement that the announced film had at the start before the incidents onset occurred. Also, lack of funding occurs when the film's production budget that the studio gave ran out of money and are more than often enough the studio either must decide to cancel the film or just let it be forgotten. As a result of this, some studios decided to hide details or refuse to update the news of what is happening on the set of their films to avoid negative publicity; even they are not safe from development hell too.
 * 10) Lack of updates on the film: Sometimes as a result of hiding behind the scenes of an announced film in production, people don't even know that they are still in production and assume that they have been cancelled or scrapped later on.
 * 11) Difficulty finding a distributor: Every film needs a distributor to release their film in theaters worldwide otherwise they may get stuck in limbo for a while and even be released a few years later after the year the film was shot in (a famous example of this is Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space was originally filmed in 1956, but didn't get a nationwide release until 1959).
 * 12) If a film is in development but never receives the necessary production funds, another studio may execute a turnaround deal and successfully produce the film. An example of this is when Columbia Pictures stopped production of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Universal Pictures then picked up the film and made it a success. If a studio completely abandons a film project, the costs are written off as part of the studio's overhead.
 * 13) The film's studio collapsed/or went out of business: It's often the death knell for any film stuck on the collapsing studio's door when the studio finally decides to go out of business and takes any films in development with them. However, there are some cases where the production jumped to other studios to continue making their films there, others haven't been so lucky (for example, Franchise Pictures' fraudulent accounting in some of their films (including Battlefield Earth, where they reported the budget to be $75 million when it was actually $44 million) lead to them being sued out of business in 2004 by their investors when they caught on to the fraud, pretty much ending any chance of there being a sequel to L. Ron Hubbard's novel dead, not that the sequel would have been exciting anyway, as the film's infamous reputation of being one of the worst films of all time to the point of even winning the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture and Worst Picture of the 2000s, and its box office failure, pretty much already killed the idea of continuing it).

Examples

 * The Thief and the Cobbler: It was to be made by the late legendary animator Richard Williams, about a few years away from completion, some movie agents rejected the director and then the test audiences got confused from the scenes so it was cut with the help of Miramax to cash in on the release of Disney's Aladdin but it was a critical failure, years later, multiple fans created what is known as the Recobbled Cut, a reconstruction of the original workprint, with the help of Williams.
 * 1) Me and My Shadow: a film about a man's friendship with his Living Shadow that would have featured a unique blend of 3D and traditional animation, was scheduled to be released in early 2014 but seems to have fallen through the cracks after Dreamworks's split with Paramount.
 * 2) B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations: a film centering on an agency of ghosts, was set to be released in the summer of 2015. It has now been put on the back burner due to DreamWorks' restructuring plans.
 * 3) Friday the 13th re-reboot: The re-reboot of Friday the 13th appears to be dead. The film already had a turbulent time trying to get off the ground, which is detailed at length in this article, but the biggest blow came in February 2017 when Paramount not only stripped its October 13th release date, but halted production indefinitely as well. Legal and rights issues surrounding the franchise are not helping matters. The film died for good when the franchise rights reverted back to New Line Cinema in 2018.
 * 4) Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank: The film was formally announced in November 2014, with GFM Films handling international sales and Rob Minkoff also set to produce. The film was scripted by Ed Stone and Nate Hopper. In February 2015, Open Road Films acquired the U.S. distribution rights with Chris Bailey and Mark Koetsier attached to direct. Susan Purcell also joined the production as a producer. The title was confirmed for Blazing Samurai. However, the film's production immediately hit a snag when the original producer Arc Productions went bankrupt in 2016. While a new producer was eventually found, little else was heard about the status of the film. In November 2019, the film was re-announced after Aniventure joined the production. The budget was $45 million ($16 million was categorized as "original equity" while the rest of the $29 million came from Aniventure and Canadian tax credits). In August 2020, Align announced it would help finance the film and that it would have a tentative summer 2021 release date. While the film would be delivered by that date, it was then decided that the film wouldn't be released until the next year. When Paramount Pictures saved from development hell, it was confirmed that it would be finally released on July 22, 2022 under Paramount Animation banner (actually Nickelodeon Movies banner instead and later changed to July 15, 2022), which arguably serving as a slot replacement for their film Under The Boardwalk, which was set to release around that time but was abruptly removed from Paramount's release schedule in a concurrent move.
 * 5) Rendezous with Rama: Morgan Freeman has since the early 2000s showed interest in making a Rendezvous with Rama adaptation, and David Fincher has even been attached to direct. Problems have emerged with both funding and finding a good enough script. In December 2021, the project is finally back when Denis Villeneuve planning to direct and Alcon Entertainment set to produce the film. It is possible that it might be next Villeneuve movie, after Dune: Part Two in 2023.
 * 6) Untitled live-action Marvin the Martian movie: A mh:besttvshows: Looney Tunes feature-length film titled Marvin the Martian hybrid CGI/live-action film was announced in 2008, with Mike Myers voicing Marvin. It was planned to come out in late 2011/early 2012 but vanished without a trace. The only thing to materialize out of it since was some leaked test footage.
 * 7) Sonic the Hedgehog (2020): Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer tried to get Sonic the Hedgehog made into a movie back in the mid-1990s. Considering that none of the concepts presented to production staff had anything to do with the video game source material, it's actually a sigh of relief that this movie never even made it to script form. Additional attempts to have it inspired by Sonic SatAM or the Archie Comics series were even successful. Not helping that the disgraced Archie Sonic writer Ken Penders purposely sabotaged Ben Hurst's idea by claiming to SEGA that Hurst was trying to co-opt the franchise so he can show the giant video game company his own idea, but was shot down in 2007 due to corporate upheaval. An OVA movie adaptation was released in 1999, and originally, Sony Pictures acquired the rights to create a Live-Action Adaptation (blended with CGI) in December 2013, but then Paramount acquired the rights to give it a shot in 2017, due to financing issues which doesn't help, and eventually, it was released in 2020 to critical and commercial success, leading to the creation of a sequel. As the films are expected to be based entirely on video games, it's safe to say the concept from MGM is dead.
 * 8) FoodFight!: In 2004, the CGI film was announced and described as "mh:greatestmovies: Toy Story in a supermarket", the film promised to bring together over 80 famous advertising characters with voice talent including Charlie Sheen, Christopher Lloyd, Eva Longoria, Hilary, and Haylie Duff, and Wayne Brady. Director Lawrence Kasanoff expected it to be a commercial hit and merchandise for the movie appeared on store shelves before the film had a release date. Although, the film ran into many problems. In late 2002/early 2003, Kasanoff reported that hard drives containing unfinished assets from the film had been stolen in what he called an act of "industrial espionage". After several years, a trailer was finally shown at AHM in 2011, a company bought the DVD distribution rights for the film in Europe, and a quiet video-on-demand American release came in 2012, to extremely negative reviews and was a financial failure.
 * 9) Alice in Wonderland (1951): In 1939, the first Walt Disney animated film ever created was going to be known as "Alice in Wonderland" with the famous British artist David Hall. After the storyboard and script were completed, it didn't go very well for Walt Disney himself since the story was monstrous, very hard to animate, and even the inhabitants of Wonderland were being outright bloodthirsty towards poor Alice like Mad Hatter and March Hare about to dice Alice into pieces with scissors and a knife, Alice being attacked by hordes of birds, and even being placed on a guillotine at the end. The movie has been scrapped, but it was later changed from being monstrous to kid-friendly in the 1951 film version.
 * 10) Catwoman (2004): In the summer of 1993, a spin-off of the Batman anti-hero Catwoman was announced with Michelle Pfeifer expected to return to her role and Tim Burton returning to direct. It originally was going to continue Catwoman's side story in 1992's Batman Returns facing her own set of villains, hence why she wasn't in 1995's Batman Forever. Unfortunately, Pfeifer was busy being a mother and being involved in other productions, and Tim Burton decided to move onto other productions. By then, the proposed spin-off was forgotten and the film was still on Warner Bros.'s resume. It didn't return to the news until 2002 when Halle Berry decided to play the titular character with Pitof deciding to direct and the film was finally made. The final result, Catwoman in 2004, more than 11 years after it was first announced, it was panned by both critics and the audience alike for having almost nothing to do with the character it was based on (the film has Patience Philips being Catwoman instead of Selina Kyle) and even managing to win the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture that year. The film is often cited as to why some films should have remained on the shelf.
 * 11) Ghostbusters III: Hellbent: In 1999, the long awaited sequel to Ghostbusters II was announced by Columbia Pictures. However, the third film was not made following the death of Harold Ramis and due to Rick Moranis refusing to return. It was also not made since Bill Murray didn't want to return unless his character died. In 2016, Columbia Pictures released a reboot starring four women. The film was met with intense criticism from fans of the original films and was a box office disaster. In 2019 though, it was announced that Jason Reitman (son of the original Ghostbusters director, the late Ivan Reitman) is working on the third film, now under the title mh:greatestmovies:Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which released on November 19, 2021 to positive reviews by audiences and fans alike and was the box office success.
 * 12) The Smurfs (2011): In 1997, Jordan Kerner sent a "series of letters" to Lafig Belgium expressing interest into making a theatrical movie of The Smurfs. The offer wasn't accepted until 2002, the movie was planned to be 3D CGI feature film release by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies that discussed the backstory of Gargamel and it was going to be a trilogy. However, it was announced in June 2008 that Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation obtained the film rights and they made quite a lot of changes from the original ideas that Paramount planned. The film was finally released on June 16, 2011 in Júzcar and July 29, 2011 in the USA, as well as the sequel in July 31, 2013. A third movie was planned as it was initially supposed be a trilogy, but it was cancelled due to the negative reception of both movies and a CGI reboot named mh:greatestmovies:Smurfs: The Lost Village was released in March 26, 2017 in Innaloo and April 7, 2017 in the USA, which despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, was received more favorably by audiences than the previous two movies were. Fortunately, in February 2022, Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies were given the film rights, with the first project is the musical film, which is set to be released on December 20, 2024.
 * 13) Untitled Mr. Men Little Miss movie: In February of 2011, some websites were reporting that there would be a Mr. Men Little Miss film being made by 20th Century Fox, it was also going to be produced by Shawn Levy, the person who would later be well-known for producing the Netflix show, Stranger Things. When it was announced, there was no director or writer during the production of the film. In December of the same year of 2011, Sanrio - the Japanese company behind Hello Kitty - bought the Mr. Men Little Miss franchise from the now bankrupt and later defunct Chorion. In early 2015, 20th Century Fox has been securing the rights to the movie and it was still in development it was still the same from when it was announced back in the year 2011, Shawn Levy was still the producer, and there was still no director or writer. In the year 2018, 20th Century Fox was bought by Disney and it's unknown when the film is going to be released, it's likely that the production of the film may have been cancelled, but it still hasn't been confirmed yet.
 * 14) Untitled Hello Kitty movie: In 2015, it was announced that a Hello Kitty movie was going to be released in 2019. No details on the movie were revealed until 2019, when it was revealed that New Line Cinema, Sanrio and FlynnPictureCo. would be teaming up to develop an English-language film centering on the titular character. In 2021, New Line Cinema got Jennifer Coyle and Leo Matsuda to direct the movie which will be an animated/live-action hybrid effort. As of now, the movie is still in development and there is no set date for when it will be released.
 * 15) The Eddsworld Fan Movie: A fan movie based on the popular web series mh:besttvshows:Eddsworld, was announced in 2013, with a release date planned in 2014, but the movie was then delayed to 2015, since then, no other release date was given, and the movie is still in development.
 * 16) The SuperMarioLogan Movie: Created and based on the YouTube channel SuperMarioLogan, it was announced in 2017 with an unknown release date. The movie was still in development, although they won't be working on it anytime soon (or quite likely, ever). However, his fans have made a fake IMDB page for it. Plans where permanently dashed away in 2021, when Nintendo sent a Cease & Desist letter to the team for the crude potrayal of their characters, especially Mario and Luigi.
 * 17) Mad Max: Fury Road: An infamous case of development hell. First planned in 1998, production was set to begin in 2001 until 9/11 and the Iraq War cancelled it due to shipping and budget concerns. Director George Miller revisited the idea after Happy Feet, considering making it an animated film until deciding to settle on live-action. Production was supposed to begin in November 2010 but several incidents, including rainfall in the series' usual location of Broken Hill unexpectedly turning the desert into a meadow of flowers, delayed the film further until filming began in June 2012 in Namibia. Aside from a few extra shots in late 2013, the film wrapped filming on 17 December 2012 and was finally released in 2015 after nearly two decades in development hell, earning universal acclaim from critics and audiences, through it was the box office disappointment.
 * 18) Artemis Fowl: Originally started its production in 2001, it named Miramax Films like the one who acquired the rights to the film and Lawrence Guterman to direct it, although in 2003 It was confirmed that the film had little chance of happening, for 2011 Jim Sheridan was interested in directing the film but in the end, nothing happened, in 2013 it was announced that Disney is developing a project, which began production during 2017 and was planned to premiere in mid-2019, but in the end, it had to be delayed until 2020 because Disney wanted to improve it, not that it helped. Due to negative reception and Covid-19, it went straight to Disney+ for no additional charge, and never saw a theatrical release of any kind.
 * 19) Avatar sequels: These films were first announced in 2010, aiming for a release of the second installment by 2014. The timeline has been pushed back a total of 8 times, due to director James Cameron being occupied with other projects, the VFX team working on creating underwater motion capture, and the COVID-19 pandemic affecting production.
 * 20) Space Jam II: A sequel to the 1996 live-action/animated hybrid mh:greatestmovies:Space Jam was in the works in 1997, with Joe Pytka from the first film to direct, Bob Camp to design an all-new character, Berserk-O! and his henchmen, and Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone signing on as the animation supervisors. The potential sequel reentered development as Spy Jam and was to star Jackie Chan in a different script. The studio was also planning a film titled Race Jam which would have starred Jeff Gordon. Additionally, Pytka revealed that following the first film's success, he had been pitched a story for a sequel that would have starred professional golfer Tiger Woods, with Jordan in a smaller role. Pytka explained how the idea came from an out of studio script conference, with people who worked on the original film allegedly involved. Another idea for a Space Jam sequel entitled Skate Jam was in early development with Tony Hawk in the starring role. Plans were underway for production to begin immediately following the release of mh:greatestmovies:Looney Tunes: Back in Action, but it was cancelled given that film's poor box office performance despite otherwise improved critical reception from Space Jam. Over 10 years later however, talks for a sequel were resurrected with LeBron James as the main star. Filming began from June 25 to September 26, 2019 with Malcolm D. Lee helming as director. In addition, in March 2020, photos during the shooting were leaked as Warner Bros. characters aside from the Looney Tunes would also appear in the film, such as Superman, Batman, Pennywise, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy, Harry Potter, Joker, Gollum, Bane, Scorpion and Sub-Zero, Agent Smith, Mad Max, Finn and Jake, The Mask, the Gremlins, Tom and Jerry, Austin Powers, King Leonidas, George the Gorilla, Dr. Manhattan, Harold and Kumar, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, among others. The film, titled Space Jam: A New Legacy, was released on July 16, 2021 to generally negative reviews for being a blatant ad for HBO Max and failed to capture what made the original so great and was the box office failure.
 * 21) Dune (2021): Prospects to make a successful adaptation of Dune improved after the critical and commercial success of the film series adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, both of which maintained most of the works' key characters and plots while managing the limited running time. In 2008, Paramount Pictures brought on Peter Berg to direct an adaptation. Berg left the project in October 2009, with director Pierre Morel brought on to direct in January 2010. However, Paramount dropped the project in March 2011, as they could not come to key agreements, with their rights reverting to Rubinstein. 5 years later, the film and TV rights for Dune were acquired by Legendary Entertainment in November 2016. Variety reported in December 2016 that Denis Villeneuve was in negotiations to direct the project, which was confirmed in February 2017. Villeneuve explained in March 2018 that his adaptation will be split into two films, with the first installment scheduled to begin production in 2019. After the years, Dune was finally released on October 22, 2021, to generally strong critical reviews and was the box office success, leading Warner Bros. and Legendary to green-lit Dune: Part Two for planning release on October 20, 2023, with Denis Villeneuve returning to direct.
 * 22) It (2017): The project was in ongoing development since 2009 with Warner Bros. Pictures planning to bring it to the big screen. The proposed film adaptation has gone through two major phases of planning: initially with Cary Fukunaga from 2009 to 2015, with the early contributions of screenwriter David Kajganich, and with Andy Muschietti, with Fukunaga remaining in some capacity due to prior screenplay contributions. After the changes, Muschietti is announced to direct this film and the film have been moved to New Line Cinema. The film was released on September 8, 2017, to critical and commercial success, promoting New Line Cinema to green-lit the Chapter Two.
 * 23) The Dark Tower: An adaptation of The Dark Tower had been in development since at least 2007. The film was eventually released on August 4, 2017 to generally negative reaction.
 * 24) Untitled Speed Racer movie: A live-action Speed Racer film was in the works since 1992 when Warner Bros. opted the rights to make a film version of it in co-junction with Silver Pictures. In October 1994, singer Henry Rollins was offered the role of Racer X. In June 1995, Johnny Depp was cast into the lead role for Speed Racer, with production slated to begin the coming October, In September 2000, Warner Bros. and producer Lauren Shuler Donner hired writer-director Hype Williams to take the helm of the project. In June 2004, Vince Vaughn spearheaded a revival of the project by presenting a take for the film that would develop the characters more strongly. Vaughn was cast as Racer X and was also attached to the project as an executive producer. With production never becoming active, Vaughn was eventually detached from the project. However, The Wachowskis were brought on board by the studio to write and direct the film in October 2006. The film was released on May 9, 2008. Although critics gave it mixed reviews and was a box office bomb, it was received positively by fans.
 * 25) Tom & Jerry: Plans for a new theatrical Tom and Jerry movie was planned in 2009, as a live-action/CGI film following the success of Alvin and the Chipmunks. 6 years later, Warner Bros. wants to put a renewed focus on animation and plans changed from a full-on live-action film to a full-on animated film. 3 years later, plans have officially been finalized as a live-action/animated hybrid that began to film in 2019, originally planned to be released on April 16, 2021. The movie has had a lot of time put through as it was then pushed back for a December 23, 2020 release. The film was officially released on February 26, 2021.
 * 26) Untitled animated Garfield movie: After Fox let the film rights to Garfield lapse, Alcon Entertainment announced plans in 2016 to reboot the film franchise as an all-CGI animated film. Mark Dindal (The Emperor's New Groove, Chicken Little) was attached to direct the film in November 2018, with Garfield creator Jim Davis (who had no involvement in the Fox films) as executive producer. The following summer, however, Davis sold the Garfield IP to Nickelodeon, and Dindal left to work on a film based off the Funko Pop! toys for Warner Bros., leaving the film's fate in limbo for two years, until November 2021, when more news of the movie surfaced: it was announced the movie would be distributed internationally by Sony Pictures and that the titular cat would be voiced by Chris Pratt. Garfield's design for the movie was also revealed alongside those news.
 * 27) Beetlejuice 2: In 1990, Tim Burton commissioned a sequel to Beetlejuice called Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, written by Jonathan Gems. After multiple studio rewrites, in 1997 Gems stated that the film will never be made. In 2011, Warner Bros. hired Seth Grahame-Smith to write and produce a sequel. In 2013, Winona Ryder expressed her interest in the sequel saying, "I'm kind of sworn to secrecy but it sounds like it might be happening. It's 27 years later." In January 2015, writer Grahame-Smith said the script was finished and that he and Burton intended to start filming by the end of the year, and that both Keaton and Ryder would return in their respective roles. In April 2019, Warner Bros. stated the sequel had been shelved; however, in February 2022, a sequel was announced, produced by Plan B Entertainment with Warner Bros. Pictures. Brad Pitt will serve as a producer, while Keaton and Ryder will reprise their respective roles. Principal photography is intended to begin in the summer of that year.
 * 28) Fourth Jurassic Park sequel: The fourth film of the Jurassic Park series was in development hell ever since the release of Jurassic Park III in 2001 when it was first announced. After scheduling and release conflicts, the fourth film was eventually retooled as a soft reboot known as Jurassic World, which was released theatrically on June 12, 2015 to generally positive reviews and became the huge box office success.
 * 29) Watchmen: The 2009 film based on the Alan Moore graphic novel from DC Comics had undergone much various production problems; such as penning the script from four different studios and directors and attaching different screenwriters for the project; thus halted the adaptation's development through twenty years. That was until 2006, when Zack Snyder, fresh out of production of then soon to be released 300, was hired as director for the film. It was eventually released on March 6, 2009 with mixed reactions from critics and was a moderate success worldwide at the box office; but received more acclaim from fans gaining more of a cult following over the years.
 * 30) Warcraft: A live-action adaptation of the Warcraft series was first announced in 2006. The film spent several years in development hell before the project advanced. It was scheduled for a 2016 release. The film was released in June 2016 worldwide with a Paris premiere in May to generally mixed reviews by critics, but was very well received by fans.
 * 31) Untitled animated Mickey Mouse movie: An animated Mickey Mouse movie was announced when Burny Mattinson revealed in one interview that he was developing a "Mickey, Donald, Goofy feature film idea," but he has yet to pitch the idea.
 * 32) Avatar: Originally started development in 1994 after James Cameron wrote an 80-page treatment for the movie. Filming was meant to take place in 1997 after the development of Titanic wrapped up, with a planned release in 1999. The problem was, according to Cameron, the necessary technology did not exist yet to achieve his vision of the film. Therefore, it took 10 years to develop, with the Na'vi language being worked on in 2005, and the development of a fictional universe in 2006. It eventually released on December 2009.
 * 33) Untitled live-action Soulcalibur movie: A live-action adaption of Namco's hit fighting game, Soulcalibur was announced back in spring 2001. The film’s plot would’ve revolved around two warriors who are chosen by Shaolin monks to recover and destroy a powerful sword that has fallen into the hands of an evil prince who plans to use it to open the gates of hell and destroy the world. It was planned to release in 2007 but nothing has come out of the project ever since.
 * 34) The Addams Family: In 2010, when Universal and Illumination own the rights to make an animated movie version of the Addams Family, they were going to make it a stop-motion film that was supposedly going to be directed by Tim Burton (who would later be part of the Addams Netflix series, Wednesday) and that the stop motion was going to be in a style similar to his previous stop motion films like the Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride, however after 3 years without any development time given prior to cancellation such as hiring a cast, screenwriter, composer (most likely Danny Elfman), or a stop-motion animation company like Laika (like Corpse Bride) or Mackinnon & Saunders (like Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs) to animate the film due to Universal and Illumination losing the rights as well as Tim Burton possibly being busy with the stop-motion remake of Frankenweenie with Disney at the time, on the same year the stop motion idea was scrapped and when the franchise and animated film rights were given back to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (the same company behind the 1964 series as well as the 90s live-action movies), they reworked the film into a CGI film with the help of most of the Sausage Party crew (including both directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, as well as the same animation company behind that movie, Nitrogen Studios who were known for animating Season 12 to 16 of Thomas & Friends and the infamous Happily N'Ever After) following the success of the Hotel Transylvania franchise from Sony Pictures Animation, the film eventually released in October 2019 to mixed-to-negative reviews, nearly 9 years after it was announced in 2010, as well as the sequel in October 2021 made to cash in on Hotel Transylvania ' s fourth and final film, Transformania, making it the only planned Illumination film to be entirely different from the final product.

Why It Sucks

 * 1) The main problem with this practice and why everybody hates it is that it can take waaaaaay too long for the movie to be developed and cause many people to lack patience.
 * 2) Most of them suffer from executive meddling.

The Only Redeeming Quality

 * 1) Despite how it takes too long to be developed, Hollywood does have movies that were rather well-executed, especially Mad Max: Fury Road and Dune.