In early 2005, Universal Pictures acquired the film rights to author Terry Brooks' fantasy novel series Magic Kingdom of Landover, with plans for a live-action film franchise starting with Magic Kingdom for Sale. The Mummy helmer Stephen Sommers was hired to direct, from a screenplay adapted by veteran comedy scribes Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, with the story concerning a widowed attorney who leaves his old life behind when he responds to a mysterious advertisement and spends his fortune to purchase a magical kingdom, but he and his two children get more than they bargained for when they find the kingdom on the verge of chaos. Sommers would also produce alongside his production partner and go-to editor Bob Ducsay. Several years later, it was announced that Warner Bros. Pictures had picked up the rights to develop the film, enlisting Akiva Goldsman to co-produce through his Weed Road Pictures banner and Craig Wright to perform a rewrite on the script, with Steve Carell starring in the lead role. No doubt many of Sommers' frequent collaborators would've also joined in, including score composer Alan Silvestri, film editor Kelly Matsumoto, and cinematographer Mitchell Amundsen. However, no further news would ever come of the project, with Sommers instead moving on to direct Odd Thomas. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "The Oasis" – Alan Silvestri (Ready Player One) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuLi8UVUgPw

In the year 2000, it was announced that New Line Cinema had acquired the rights to develop a feature film adaptation of author Dave Eggers' acclaimed memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which chronicles his stewardship of his younger brother Toph following the cancer-related deaths of their parents. Eggers himself met with visionary filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson about potentially adapting the novel into a film. Two years later, it was reported that the film would be produced by the now-disgraced Scott Rudin, with About a Boy and High Fidelity author Nick Hornby penning the screenplay. New Line hoped to keep the budget low enough to be able to finance and produce the project themselves, and in case that didn't work out, the studio was open to partnering with Paramount Pictures — which was where Rudin was housed at — or their own sister company Warner Bros. Pictures. A year later, Universal Pictures had acquired the rights from New Line, having set D.V. DeVincentis to revise the script — having previously had a hand in adapting High Fidelity — and filmmaker Kimberly Peirce, in what was to be her next film following the critically acclaimed Boys Don't Cry. However, the project would ultimately never come to be, as the studios' option on the rights to the film had ran out, as confirmed by Eggers in a 2007 interview with Entertainment Weekly. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDeIH1R8nJI

An effects-driven epic based around the legendary folk hero Sinbad had been in development at Sony's Columbia Pictures since the early 2000's. Academy Award-nominated director John Singleton was first tapped to direct in 2001, from a screenplay initially penned by Tedi Sarafian and revised by the husband-and-wife team of Cormac and Marianne Wibberley. Their take on the material — said to be in the vein of The Mummy meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — was described as "an eighth century Raiders of the Lost Ark on steroids." Four years later, Singleton was replaced with The Fast and the Furious and xXx helmer Rob Cohen, with C. Gaby Mitchell coming onboard for another rewrite of the script and Keanu Reeves attached to star as the titular sailor, with the story concerning him and his shipmates setting sail on their eighth voyage, embarking on a quest to find the Lamp of Aladdin. Along the way, they come across a beautiful empress and do battle against fantastical creatures and a rebellious Chinese general who threatens the kingdom with his supernatural powers. Three years later, Cohen was replaced with Hairspray helmer Adam Shankman, who would also join as an executive producer alongside Jennifer Gibgot and Garrett Grant through their Offspring Entertainment shingle, Cohen, Dwight Williams, and Toby Jaffe. Neal H. Moritz would be producing through his Original Film banner, along with Singleton through New Deal Entertainment, while Black Swan scribe John J. McLaughlin was hired for yet another script rewrite. No doubt many of Shankman's frequent collaborators would've also joined in, including score composer John Debney, costume designer Rita Ryack, film editors Michael Tronick and Emma E. Hickox, and cinematographer Bojan Bazelli. However, after McLaughlin's hiring in 2012, no further news would ever come of the project. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "Water Truce" – John Debney (The Jungle Book) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2LT4zxdqpY

In the early-to-mid-2000's, it was announced that Warner Bros. Pictures had acquired the rights from Universal Pictures and the estate of author Ernest Hemingway to develop a new feature film adaptation of Hemingway's acclaimed novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, which is set during the Spanish Civil War and tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American man in the International Brigades who is attached to an anti-fascist guerilla unit in the mountains. There, he finds a reason to live when he falls in love with a beautiful refugee named Maria, and that life-changing event comes just as he's tapped for a potential suicide mission. David Benioff was hired to write the screenplay, having impressed Warner Bros. with his work on the Illiad adaptation Troy as well as his passion for the source material. Benioff would also serve as an executive producer on the project, to be produced by Nick Wechsler of Industry Entertainment. In the spring of 2005, it was reported that Leonardo DiCaprio was keenly interested in playing the role of Jordan but won't commit to the film without a director. Warner Bros. was in talks with visionary filmmaker Christopher Nolan to take on helming duties, having previously offered him the opportunity to direct Benioff's script for Troy, which he turned down. Had Nolan came aboard, no doubt he and Emma Thomas would also serve as producers through their Syncopy banner, and that many of his frequent collaborators would've also joined in, including score composer Hans Zimmer, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland, film editor Lee Smith, production designer Nathan Crowley, and cinematographer Wally Pfister. Alas, this adaptation of Hemingway's book would ultimately never come to be. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "On Stranger Tides" – Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06337_Y-Uok