by Alexandro Jodorowsky In the mid 1970s, surrealist filmmaker Jodorowsky worked to put together his dream version of Dune – which would include many bizarre elements that author Frank Herbert understandably had problems with. He assembled a dream team of collaborators. French comic artist Moebius contributed some 3000 storyboards. British painter Christopher Foss and Swiss…
Category: Early Versions
The Crow 3
I don’t know what the story is on “Resurrection,” but Zombie’s “2037” would have been interesting. He was really frustrated when they dropped him… and I was equally frustrated when The Crow Salvation turned out to be such a boring retread. Interestingly, I believe some elements from “2037” were later used in the fourth Crow…
Blade Runner
Writing this one was torture. Once Ridley Scott came in, he wanted everything tailored to his style. I love the final result, plotholes and all. For more about the history, see Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner by Paul M. Sammon. Blade Runner (July 24, 1980) by Hampton Fancher Blade Runner (Feb 23, 1981)…
Batman 2
by Sam Hamm Here’s an early version of Batman Returns. Sam Hamm wrote the first Batman (and has taken a crack at many other comic book movies), so it made sense for him to do a draft of the sequel. The final screenplay was written by Daniel Waters. Download screenplay
Aliens Vs. Predator
by Peter Briggs This script was written as a spec, based on the Dark Horse comic. Briggs didn’t option the property first (as is the accepted practice), but the script was actually purchased by Fox anyway. Things fell apart when they decided to go ahead with Alien Resurrection instead. The final Alien vs. Predator utilizes…
Alien 3
From monks to prisoners, this sequel had a strange up and down journey. (Personally, I never forgave them for killing off Hicks and Newt before the plot even kicked in.) It’s unclear to me who wrote the first draft, seeing how there’s one credited to Twohy and one to Ward and Fasano. Perhaps multiple writers…
A Scanner Darkly
by Charlie Kaufman Kaufman is a hot screenwriter. The source material is by hot adaptee Philip K. Dick, master of the sci-fi mindbender. What’s not to love? Well, when Richard Linklater took on the movie, he wrote his own screenplay instead. Download screenplay
Predators
by Robert Rodriguez While waiting for the greenlight on Desperado, Rodriguez was commissioned to write the third Predator movie. Since the Aliens and Predator franchises merged, there seemed to be little chance this one would be made. But in April 2009, Variety reported that the project was back on the table. Read a script review…