Chris Columbus' unrealized projects

The following is a list of unproduced Chris Columbus projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Chris Columbus has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects, are officially scrapped or fell in development hell.

Indiana Jones and the Monkey King
In 1985, Columbus wrote an script for a third Indiana Jones film entitled Indiana Jones and the Monkey King. Columbus' script was about the trip of Indy along his assistant Betsy to a secret city protected by soldier gorillas and governed by the evil Monkey King. According to Columbus, he wrote the script so that the story doesn't look like the previous film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. However, at the end, Columbus' script was rejected and the film was finally released in 1989 under the title Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and directed by Steven Spielberg.

Fantastic Four
In 1995, Columbus wrote for 20th Century Fox a script for the long time planned Fantastic Four feature-length film. The film was supposed to be released around the 2001 summer. Peter Segal was attached to direct it, but later, he dropped the project, so Raja Gosnell took the director's chair, but he dropped it after being hired by Warner Bros. to direct Scooby-Doo and its sequel. After this, director Peyton Reed entered into the project and wanted to cast Renée Zellweger as Invisible Woman. The film was finally released in 2005, directed by Tim Story and written by Michael France and Mark Frost.

Galaxy High School
Plans for a live-action film adaptation of his own 1986 animated TV series Galaxy High was planned in partnership with John H. Williams of Vanguard Films, and reteamed with Chris Columbus to develop the big screen version of Galaxy High School. After various development deals with both DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures, Sofare nothing ever came out of it, either being scrapped or in development hell.

Daredevil
In 1997, Columbus was hired by Columbia Pictures to write an script for a Daredevil feature film. Columbus' script was later leaked on Internet in 1999. Despite this, Columbia dropped the project and 20th Century Fox bought the rights. The film was finally released in 2003 and directed by Mark Steven Johnson.

The Sub-Mariner
In July 2004, Columbus was hired to direct a film adaptation of Namor. The film was supposed to be released in 2007 However, in 2005, Columbus abandoned the project.