Book Review: The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made by David Hughes

David Hughes' The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made is a fascinating glimpse into the world of the motion picture industry. Hughes examines the script to screen (or oblivion as the case may be) process of several well known sci-fi franchises. This book exemplifies how movies are not simply made up of artistry and vision but of bureaucratic red tape, celebrity egos, and fanciful whims of studio executives.

Why did a new Superman franchise take over ten years, a multitude of script rewrites, and millions spent on an ultimately canceled project before the lackluster Superman Returns finally hit the big screen? The reason can pretty much be summed in one word — fear. Fear of doing the “wrong” story, fear of casting the wrong actors, fear of angering loyal Superman fans. Ultimately so many writers, directors, actors, and producers had come and gone on the project the only vision left was to play it safe and keep the story as close to the original Superman movie as possible.

It was those same kinds of fears that plagued many would-be sci-fi projects over the years. Understandably, studio executives are hesitant to sink millions and millions of dollars into a movie that ends up tanking at the box office. And science fiction can be a tough sell. Even tried and true franchises like Star Trek had to go through their share of finding acceptable scripts and endless director and casting negotiations before finally getting the green light.

This book examines the careful balance that has to be struck between creativity and bankability, between vision and budget, and between flights of fancy and plausibility. Find out why so many great ideas were never realized, such as a big screen version of The Six Million Dollar Man or a Ridley Scott-directed Planet of the Apes. Why did it take so many years to get a new I Am Legend off the ground? Why did Steven Spielberg ditch his alien thriller, Night Skies, after nearly a million dollars spent in pre-production, for family friendly E.T.? And was Star Trek IV really intended as an Eddie Murphy vehicle? The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made has all the answers and many more.

This is truly an indispensable book for any sci-fi and/or movie fan. It offers well researched insight into a world that is not readily shared with movie audiences. While it is sometimes disappointing to discover what could have been, the peek into stories unrealized is well worth it.