Nightmare Alley is Guillermo del Toro’s first movie since The Shape of Water, which won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Production Design. This is a big deal because the director starts a lot of movies that don’t get made for one reason or another. He has an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to “unrealized projects” — it’s separated by decade, which is helpful for differentiating that he tried to make a CGI The Wind in the Willows in the 2000s and an “untitled Van Helsing project” in the 2010s.
Del Toro was recently tagged in a tweet along with James Gunn and Edgar Wright about how many screenplays they’ve written that never got made. “By my count I have written or co-written around 33 screenplay features. 2-3 made by others, 11 made by me (Pinocchio in progress) so- about 20 screenplays not filmed,” he responded. “Each takes 6-10 months of work, so, roughly 16 years gone. Just experience and skill improvement.” He’s spent nearly Olivia Rodrigo’s whole life on “unrealized projects.”
We were robbed of a third Hellboy movie. Via Wikipedia:
On July 10, 2008, del Toro expressed his interest in directing a third Hellboy film, saying that he would work on the film after finishing The Hobbit. In 2010, during the production of the unmade At the Mountain of Madness, del Toro mentioned that he would direct Hellboy III after his next project, even though the script was not yet written. However, on July 8, 2013, del Toro said that the film was unlikely to be released, and suggested the possibility of telling its story in comic book form. Hellboy creator Mike Mignola refused to accept the idea.
At least we have Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which both rule.
By my count I have written or co-written around 33 screenplay features. 2-3 made by others, 11 made by me (Pinocchio in progress) so- about 20 screenplays not filmed. Each takes 6-10 months of work, so, roughly 16 years gone. Just experience and skill improvement.
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) September 21, 2021