The movies we never met

The current awards season could have been very different, if any of these five announced movies had been produced

Here are a few news stories from the trades throughout the last few years: 

• Deadline.com, June 9, 2016: Jennifer Lawrence Boarding Adam McKay Theranos Medical Drama Project

• Deadline.com, September 30, 2020: ‘The Godfather’ Making Of Movie: Barry Levinson Taps Oscar Isaac To Play Francis Coppola & Jake Gyllenhaal As Robert Evans

• Variety, November 17, 2020: Spike Lee to Direct Movie Musical About Viagra

• Deadline.com, November 11, 2021: Jonah Hill To Play Jerry Garcia In Martin Scorsese-Directed Grateful Dead Pic For Apple

• Deadline.com, November 17, 2022: Bradley Cooper To Play Frank Bullitt In Steven Spielberg’s New Original Movie Based On The Classic Steve McQueen Character

Those are all movies, about interesting subjects, from acclaimed directors. The reports about them did not come from rumor sites, but were the Hollywood trades reporting on actual deals, in most cases involving actual studios. If you thought the 2023 awards season was competitive as it is, any of those films could have been very competitive. 

But none of those movies have been made. In fact, in most cases, they were announced, and the announcement was the last thing reported about them. And this happens much more often than you would think.