Cruel Intentions 2 was originally supposed to be a prequel series called Manchester Prep, but the group changed their minds after watching the first two episodes. So they decided to cut the episodes and rework them into a direct-to-video film.
1.
Previously, Riverdale was almost a movie about time traveling Archie and was supposed to star Louis C.K.
In 2013, Riverdale creator and Archie Comics chief creative officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and director Jason Moore began pitching a coming-of-age drama film based on the wildly popular comic book character. The film was similar to ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’, but many studios were not interested in the idea.
Warner Bros. was a little interested in the idea, but Roberto and Jason had to get past the VP, who felt their film should have a higher concept than just a coming-of-age story. The VP suggested that Archie time travel or go through portals to jump between dimensions. Also, he wanted Louis C.K. played the role of Archie.
Roberto and Jason thought about it for a while, but finally decided it wasn’t the kind of film they wanted to make. About a year later, a Warner Bros. producer landed a job at Berlanti Productions and asked Roberto if he would like to turn his vision of the film into a TV series.
2.
Originally, Final Destination was written as an episode of The X-Files titled “Flight 180”.
Jeffrey Reddick wrote “Flight 180” as a spec script (an uncommissioned and unsolicited screenplay) for his agent. What happens in the episode is surprisingly similar to the movie. A passenger on the plane has a vision of the plane’s destruction and tries to cheat death.
The main difference is that in the original script, the passenger who has the vision was Scully’s brother. The main point of the script centered around Scully’s relationship with her brother, rather than the idea of cheating death. Reddick then decided to turn it into a film script, where the main idea was the focal point of the plot.
3.
The Queen’s Gambit was originally conceived as a film to be directed by Heath Ledger.
The novel The Queen’s Gambit was published in 1983, and in 1992 author Allan Shiach optioned the rights to develop a film. After writing the script, Heath Ledger was one of the directors who approached Shiach about directing the project. Shiach cast Elliot Page for the role of Beth Harmon.
They decided to start shooting the film by the end of 2008. However, Ledger died a few months before production began. Shiach felt Ledger was the perfect director for the film adaptation, but the project had to be shelved. Years later, screenwriter Scott Frank rewrote Shiach’s script and turned it into a seven-episode miniseries for Netflix.
4.
Clueless was originally an idea for a television series called No Worries.
The film’s writer-director, Amy Heckerling, revealed that 20th Century Fox was looking for a television series about cool kids. Heckerling created the stylish and elegant character of Cher Horowitz for the No Worries series.
However, when they pitched the No Worries script to Fox, the network didn’t get it and felt it needed more male characters. Also, they felt that if the series focused too much on girls, no boys would watch it.
Eventually, the idea came to a producer who had a deal with Paramount Pictures, and Clueless was made as a film. A year after the film’s release, a sequel series was aired which ran for three seasons.
5.
The third and final installment of the Perfect Man series was originally intended to be a film rather than a miniseries.
In 2014 – a year after the release of the second film, The Perfect Man Holiday – it was announced that there would be a third film in the series, titled The Perfect Man Marriage. However, due to scheduling conflicts with the cast and director, production never started. Based on the plot left hanging from the second film, it can be assumed that the third installment would have centered around Quentin’s wedding.
In 2022, the eight-episode miniseries Perfect Man: The Final Chapters was announced on Peacock as the final chapter in the series. The first two episodes of the series focus on Quentin’s wedding.
6.
The direct-to-DVD film Cruel Intentions 2 was actually the first two installments of what was supposed to be the Cruel Intentions prequel series.
Following the success of Cruel Intentions, a derivative prequel series focusing on Sebastian and Kathryn called Manchester Prep was developed, of which two episodes were filmed. The studio was unimpressed and felt the series would not work on television.
To save their investment, the two installments were repackaged as films and released directly in video format.
7.
Initially, Glee was written as a script for a very dark and comedic film in 2005.
Ian Brennan, one of the creators of Glee, has written a script for a dark comedy about a school choir. He had a hard time selling the project, but years later, Ryan Murphy got access to the script, liked it, and helped him turn the idea into a television series.
In a Glee podcast, Ryan Murphy shared that in Ian Brennan’s original script, the character Mr. Schue was addicted to meth and engaged in inappropriate behavior with one of the students. Ryan described the original script as “NC-17’s version of a school choir with a kooky protagonist falling apart”.
8.
The 1979 film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, originated as a possible television reboot called Stark Trek: Phase II.
Star Trek: The Original Series ran from 1966 to 1969. In the 1970s, it was decided to revive the series as Star Trek: Phase II for the revival of the Paramount brand, with much of the cast returning.
However, Paramount decided not to invest in the series as they thought they would not get a return on their investment. Thus, the Phase II scripts were repurposed to become Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
9.
The reboot of Sex and the City, titled And Just Like That…, focuses mainly on Carrie’s life after the death of her husband Big from a heart attack, which was also the plot of the third film ever produced.
Journalist James Andrew Miller stated that he saw an early version of the third film’s script and that in it Big dies relatively soon of a heart attack in the shower. The rest of the film would have been about grieving Carrie and healing from losing her.
It’s no secret that the third Sex and the City movie didn’t get made because Kim Cattrall didn’t want to go back to playing the character of Samantha due to the storyline intended for her character in the script.
10.
Initially, Mulholland Energy was conceived as a television spin-off of Twin Peaks centered around the personality of Audrey Horne.
Co-creator of the series, Mark Frost, discussed it saying: “We had thought about creating a spin-off with the character of Audrey and have her wandering through Hollywood in a modern film noir. We had preliminary discussions, but then the project stalled. Then, six years later, I learned it had become a pilot episode for ABC.”
After ABC declined to produce the pilot episode, the series’ other co-creator, David Lynch, rewrote the script as a film, introducing new characters who had no connection to the Twin Peaks universe.
11.
In the past, This Is Us was just a movie about octoplets.
In 2015, the writer of the show, Dan Fogelman, wrote a script for an 80-page film about the Pearson family. The film would have a reveal at the end – similar to the first episode of the series – showing that the characters were brothers. However, during the film, instead of just three children, it would have been eight.
Subsequently, Fogelman realized that he did not want to end the stories of those characters there and that he would prefer their story to continue uninterrupted, and this is how the television series This Is Us was born.
12.
Zombieland was originally developed as a pilot for CBS by writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.
However, CBS ultimately decided not to produce the pilot, so Reese and Wernick rewrote the script and attempted to sell it to other television networks. After numerous rejections, they decided to turn what should have been the first two episodes of the series into a screenplay for a film. And so Zombieland was born.
13.
Originally, The Witcher was meant to be a single Netflix original film.
However, the Netflix team advised the producers against it, as there was too much material to adapt – eight books – to make a single standalone film.
After numerous discussions, the producers decided to adapt the book series into a television series, thus satisfying Netflix’s request to make the most of the vast universe created by the author Andrzej Sapkowski. And thus the hit series The Witcher was born.
14.
Welcome to Me was originally a script for a television pilot episode.
The pilot script was written by Eliot Laurence and the film’s director, Shira Piven said, “I think he wanted it to be a kind of pilot episode for a show that could go to HBO or Showtime; more of a show off more appealing cable”.
Piven was intrigued by Laurence’s idea, but she felt strongly that the story would be more suitable for a film. She then asked him to rewrite it as a screenplay for a film, and he agreed. Thus was born the film Welcome to Me.
15.
The Sopranos was originally conceived and presented as a script for a film.
David Chase, co-creator of the series, revealed that the plot of the film was about a gangster in therapy who had problems with his mother, who was also involved in gang conflicts.
His agent suggested he turn it into a script for a TV series, and Chase reworked the idea by focusing on the women in the gangster’s life, including his family, as this worked better for television. And thus was born one of the most iconic television series of all time, The Sopranos.
16.
The 2020 film Capone originated from a pilot script written in the 1970s for a show that could have been called Cicero.
Television producer Walon Green wrote the pilot script in the 1970s about the life of Al Capone. The idea was considered by Warner Bros. in 2010 and the idea was adapted for a film with Tom Hardy at the project. However, production never started and the film was cancelled.
But Tom Hardy wanted to play Al Capone so badly that in 2016 he took the lead again with director Josh Trank. In 2020, the film Capone was announced.
17.
And ultimately, 13 Reasons Why was supposed to be a movie starring Selena Gomez.
In 2011, it was announced that Universal Studios was developing a film adaptation of the book 13 Reasons Why starring Selena Gomez as Hannah Baker.
However, years later, in 2015, it was announced that Netflix would be adapting the book into a television series with Gomez as executive producer.
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