Tim Burton is one of the most revered directors working today. His gloomy visual style, heavily inspired by German expressionist cinema, is unmistakable and his tales of the macabre, from Edward Scissorhands to Beetlejuice, are wholly his own. For all the movies that Burton has actually managed to get made, there are just as many that he was interested in making, but couldn’t get off the ground.
Over the years, Burton has developed a number of projects that haven’t materialized, either because another director took over as Burton moved on to other ideas or because Burton (or the studio) simply lost interest.
Batman 3
Tim Burton was interested in directing Michael Keaton in a third Batman movie after helming Batman Returns. Burton’s threequel would’ve reportedly been called Batman Continues, featuring the Scarecrow as the main villain and Two-Face and the Riddler as secondary antagonists.
However, Warner Bros. had been unhappy with Batman Returns’ merchandise sales, so they decided to replace Burton and tapped Joel Schumacher to direct the third Batman movie instead.
The Nightmare Before Christmas 2
Disney was interested in doing a computer-animated sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas, but producer Tim Burton managed to dissuade them from making it. He was protective of The Nightmare Before Christmas and wasn’t interested in tarnishing the original’s legacy with a sequel.
A few years later, director Henry Selick became interested in a sequel, but only if he and Burton could come up with a good enough story for it. Disney is now currently working on a new Nightmare Before Christmas movie without Burton or Selick’s involvement.
Lost In Oz
Burton once developed a TV series based on L. Frank Baum’s Oz books entitled Lost in Oz. He was going to executive-produce the series if it ever made it to the big leagues.
In 2000, a pilot episode was created for Lost in Oz, but it was never ordered to series due to concerns about how much the show would cost to make.
Pinocchio
Although an unrelated Pinocchio movie is currently in the works from Guillermo del Toro, Robert Downey, Jr. was interested in adapting the property for the big screen as far back as 2012.
Downey’s top choice to direct the movie was Tim Burton, but Burton eventually dropped out to helm Big Eyes and he was replaced by Ben Stiller.
Superman Lives
When Warner Bros. hired Kevin Smith to rewrite a script called Superman Reborn (which he retitled to Superman Lives), the writer suggested Tim Burton for the director’s chair. Burton was signed on to direct the movie with Nicolas Cage playing the Man of Steel.
Burton wanted to cast Christopher Walken as Brainiac and Chris Rock as Jimmy Olsen. However, for a number of reasons (script problems, budgetary concerns – there’s a whole documentary about it), the project was scrapped.
Mary Reilly
Tim Burton was tapped to direct an adaptation of Valerie Martin’s Jekyll and Hyde-inspired fantasy novel Mary Reilly when producer Denise Di Novi got a hold of the film rights. The director planned to start filming after finishing Ed Wood, but had to drop out when producer Peter Guber put Ed Wood in turnaround.
The movie eventually got made with Stephen Frears directing and Julia Roberts playing the lead role, but it was a critical and commercial failure.
Catwoman
After making Batman Returns, Tim Burton was interested in directing Michelle Pfeiffer in a Catwoman spin-off. Screenwriter Daniel Waters returned to write a script, but turned in his dark, gritty, edgy script on the same day that the studio released Batman Forever, a lighthearted, family-friendly blockbuster.
Despite the studio getting cold feet, Pfeiffer remained interested in reprising her role as Selina Kyle in the spin-off. However, after years in development hell, the movie morphed into the dreadful Catwoman movie starring Halle Berry.
Stop-Motion Animated Addams Family
Back in 2010, Universal acquired the rights to Charles Addams’ original Addams Family drawings, which Tim Burton intended to adapt into a stop-motion animated movie. He was going to write and produce the movie, and also considered directing.
An Addams Family movie eventually got released in 2019, but it was computer-animated, Burton wasn’t involved, and it was panned by critics. Burton is currently working on a live-action Addams Family TV series.
Beetlejuice 2
A sequel to Burton’s passion project Beetlejuice has been in and out of development since the original’s release. Scripts for the follow-up have been written under various titles, from Beetlejuice in Love to Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.
In 2011, Warner Bros. hired Seth Grahame-Smith, who wrote the script for Dark Shadows for Burton, to write and produce a Beetlejuice sequel. It still hasn’t gotten off the ground, but Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder remain interested.
Batman: The Musical
In 2002, Burton began working with Jim Steinman and David Ives on a stage musical based on the Batman comics. Although the project never materialized, Steinman has revealed that six songs were written: the opening theme “Gotham City,” Batman’s first solo “The Graveyard Shift,” the villain-themed “The Joker’s Song (Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?)” and “The Catwoman’s Song (I Need All The Love I Can Get),” the big finale “We’re Still The Children We Once Were,” and “In The Land Of The Pig The Butcher Is King,” which would’ve been sung by the vampires running Gotham.
The latter was eventually covered by Meat Loaf on the album Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. The demo tracks have since been released on Steinman’s website.