Sam Raimi's unrealized projects

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

Book of the Dead
In 1980, Raimi and Bruce Campbell started the development of Raimi's first feature film, which was titled Book of the Dead, due to Raimi's interest in legendary writer H. P. Lovecraft. The film was supposed to be a horror film starring Campbell in the title role and a remake of Raimi's classic horror short film Within the Woods. However, at the end, both Raimi and Cambell made many changes due to producer Irvin Shapiro's recommendations to the project and the film was finally released in 1981 as The Evil Dead.

Relentless
After the successful reception of The Evil Dead, Raimi announced that he would direct a comedy film entitled Relentless. The Coen brothers wrote the script for the film, but Raimi didn't like it initially, although Bruce Campbell stated that the script was amazing comparing it with Alfred Hitchcock. However, after some revisions, Irvin Shapiro stated that the title was not good, so Raimi changed the title to The XYZ Murders, but after many changes the film was released in 1986 as Crimewave.

Thinner
In 1986, after the successful reception of Crimewave, Italian film producer Dino De Laurentiis asked Raimi to direct a film adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel Thinner. However, Raimi refused to direct it, because he and Bruce Campbell were interested in making a sequel to The Evil Dead instead than an adaptation of Thinner. The novel's film adaptation was finally released in 1996 and directed by director Tom Holland.

Thor
In 1990, after finishing with the filming of Darkman, Raimi pitched along Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee the concept of a Thor feature film to 20th Century Fox. However, they didn't understand Raimi's and Lee's idea and the project was abandoned. A film based on the Thor property was released years later in 2011 and directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Batman Forever
Around the 1990s, after Tim Burton was ousted from the director's chair for Batman Forever after the controversies surrounding Batman Returns, Raimi wanted to direct the film due to his interest in directing a film of a comic book superhero. He also wanted to direct the fourth film in the film series. However, Warner Bros. decided to not hire Raimi as the director and hired The Client director Joel Schumacher to direct it. The film was finally released in 1995 and directed by Schumacher.

The Curse
In the 1990s, Raimi and his brother Ivan wrote an script entitled The Curse. The film was meant to be a horror film focusing on a character who wants to be a good person, but makes a sinful choice out of greed for her own betterment and pays the price for it. However, development of the project became stalled and Raimi abandoned it to direct Spider-Man. Raimi also tried to convince director Edgar Wright to direct his script in 2007, but he declined. Despite this, after many changes, the film was finally released in 2009 as Drag Me to Hell and directed by Raimi.

The Shadow
On December 10, 2006, SuperHero Hype reported that Raimi would co-produce along producer Michael Uslan a new film adaptation of The Shadow for Columbia Pictures. On October 16, 2007, SuperHero Hype reported that Raimi was still planning The Shadow film along his producing partner Josh Donen. However, in 2011, it was reported that Quentin Tarantino would apparently direct the film without the presence of Raimi. At the end, on August 23, 2012, during a Q&A with ShadowFan, Raimi announced that he didn't develop a good script for the film and decided to abandon its production.

The Hobbit
On April 18, 2007, Raimi stated that he was open to direct the long time planned The Hobbit film adaptation that was already planned since 1995. However, it was finally decided to divide the book in three films and on April 24, 2008, Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro was selected to direct the film and Peter Jackson was selected to produce it. The films were finally released in 2012, 2013, and 2014 directed by Jackson and written by del Toro.

Evil Dead 4
On May 3, 2007, Raimi announced that after completing Spider-Man 3 he along his brother Ivan would work on Evil Dead 4, a sequel to Raimi's Army of Darkness and the fourth installment in the Evil Dead film series. On July 26, 2008, Raimi stated that Ivan was writing an script for Evil Dead 4. On March 26, 2009, Raimi stayed that Ivan had finished the Evil Dead 4 script. However, in January 2010, the project was cancelled due Raimi's interest in make a Warcraft film and in 2011, Bruce Campbell revealed via Reddit that Raimi was working in Oz the Great and Powerful. The franchise was later rebooted in 2013 with Fede Álvarez as director.

Spider-Man 4
Around 2007, after the release of Spider-Man 3, it was announced that Spider-Man 4 was in development and that Raimi would direct it, while Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and the other members of the cast were attached to reprise their roles. Also, it was announced that the fourth Spider-Man film was to be shot back-to-back with Spider-Man 5, while Spider-Man 6 was also in development, but Raimi finally decided to only shot Spider-Man 4 at that moment. James Vanderbilt was to write the film and its two planned sequels; although David Koepp was also considered to write it. Also, on December 8, 2009, it was reported John Malkovich was slated to portray the Vulture while Anne Hathaway was slated to portray Black Cat. Also, years later, it was revealed that Bruce Campbell was slated to portray Mysterio. However, on January 11, 2010, it was officially reported that Sony Pictures had cancelled the production of Spider-Man 4 after Raimi concluded that he was not going to be able to release the film in time with a not so exciting script. The franchise was later rebooted in 2012 with Marc Webb as director.

World of Warcraft
On July 22, 2009, Blizzard Entertainment reported that Raimi was hired to direct a film adaptation of its popular video game Warcraft entitled World of Warcraft. However, on July 13, 2012, it was announced that Raimi would not direct the Warcraft film because he was working on Oz the Great and Powerful and he needed to finish its post-production. The film was finally released in 2016 as Warcraft and directed by Duncan Jones.

Pirates of the Caribbean 5
Around 2012, after Rob Marshall's departure from direct Pirates of the Caribbean 5, The Walt Disney Company wanted to hire Raimi to direct the film. However, at the end, Raimi refused, although he accepted to direct Oz the Great and Powerful. The film was released in 2017 as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg.

Untitled Oz the Great and Powerful sequel
On March 7, 2013, Variety reported that The Walt Disney Company had put in development a sequel to Raimi's Oz the Great and Powerful with James Franco and the other actors attached to reprise their roles. However, the next day, Raimi stated via Bleeding Cool that he had refused to direct the sequel due his work in the Evil Dead remake.

The Last of Us
On March 6, 2014, IGN reported that Raimi was attached to produce a film adaptation of the Naughty Dog's popular video game The Last of Us, while Neil Druckmann was attached to write it. However, on April 4, 2016, it was reported that the film had fell in development hell. On November 15, 2016, Raimi stated that the film was abandoned due the fact that Sony Pictures had some problems with Druckmann.