Attempting to get a film based on the popular Marvel comic book character Doctor Strange off the ground prior to 2016 was a lengthy and troubling development, with numerous studios, writers, directors, and producers coming and going on the project, such as Alex Cox, David S. Goyer, Bob Gale, Neil Gaiman, Guillermo del Toro, Michael France, Stephen Norrington, and Chuck Russell. One of the great what-ifs of the development process was a version that was to have been written and directed by horror maestro Wes Craven for the short-lived independent film studio Savoy Pictures, in what would've been his second major superhero film after the 1982 live-action feature film adaptation of the DC comic book character Swamp Thing. Aside from the project being announced in 1992 for a planned 1995 release, little is known about what Craven would've done with the master of the mystic arts, though no doubt many of his frequent collaborators would've also joined in, including score composer J. Peter Robinson, film editor Patrick Lussier, production designer Cynthia Kay Charette, and cinematographer Mark Irwin. Alas, Craven's take on the sorcerer supreme would forever remain unproduced, as he would instead direct the likes of New Nightmare, Vampire in Brooklyn, and Scream. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "Massacre (The Beginning)" – J. Peter Robinson (Highlander III: The Final Dimension) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9i1AVglzCg

Sony's Columbia Pictures had been trying to get a feature film based on the best-selling Stacy Schiff biography Cleopatra: A Life off the ground for well over a decade, with Angelina Jolie attached to star as the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, a firm ruler and military tactician who embarks on a ruthless rise to power, twice marrying brothers and killing each of them as well as a sister, with romantic alliances with the much-older Roman honchos Julius Caesar and Marc Antony helping her solidify power, but her dalliance with Antony undoes the both of them. Sony and producers Scott Rudin and Amy Pascal first courted visionary filmmaker James Cameron for the film, desiring a grand-scale 3D epic in the vein of Cameron's recently successful Avatar. While Cameron confirmed he had talks with the studio about taking it on, he ultimately declined due to commitments to making several Avatar sequels. Afterwards, powerhouse directors Paul Greengrass, David Fincher (who was Jolie's preferred choice), and Ang Lee also came and went on the project. The screenplay was initially penned by Brian Helgeland and rewritten by Eric Roth and later David Scarpa. In the fall of 2017, with his film Blade Runner 2049 having recently been released to rave reviews, renowned auteur Denis Villeneuve came onboard to direct, in his third collaboration with Sony after they distributed Arrival internationally and co-financed Blade Runner 2049. Scarpa and Villeneuve's take on the material was that it would be less of a traditional prestige historical epic and more of a visceral political thriller in the vein of the Costa-Gavras film Z. No doubt many of Villeneuve's frequent collaborators would've also joined in, including score composer Hans Zimmer, costume designer Renée April, film editor Joe Walker, production designer Patrice Vermette, and cinematographer Roger Deakins. Alas, no further news came of the project, and more recently, a competing Cleopatra film starring Gal Gadot and directed by television veteran Kari Skogland is currently in development at Universal Pictures with Wonder Woman helmer Patty Jenkins producing and Laeta Kalogridis penning the script. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "Radio Waves" – Hans Zimmer (Wonder Woman 1984) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCDtLeNkteY

In the fall of 2017, it was announced that critically acclaimed director James Mangold would be helming a drama entitled American Heiress, based on the true story of Patty Hearst, the heiress who was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974 and detained by the group for two years. The SLA shocked the world when it released a tape of Hearst saying she had joined the group, a revelation that placed her at the center of a counterculture revolution. She soon started participating in armed bank robberies, and after her capture, Hearst became the center of a dramatic trial, where she testified that she had been raped and threatened with death by the SLA while held captive. Elle Fanning was cast as Hearst in the film, which Mangold would also produce alongside Color Force's Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson. The screenplay would be penned by Mangold as well, in collaboration with Ed Wood and Man on the Moon scribes Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, adapted from the book of the same name by the now-disgraced Jeffrey Toobin, the author of The People v. O.J. Simpson. No doubt many of Mangold's frequent collaborators would've also joined in, including score composer Marco Beltrami; costume designer Arianne Phillips; film editors Michael McCusker, Andrew Buckland and Dirk Westervelt; production designer François Audouy; and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael. However, in early 2018, Hearst publicly denounced the project and its source novel, criticizing Fox, the filmmakers, and Toobin for perpetuating what she states is a one-sided dialogue romanticizing her torture and rape. This led to Fox promptly pulling the plug on the film, with Mangold quickly moving on to instead direct Ford v Ferrari. Follow me and ponder the question, "What if...?" Music: "Deep Water Suite" – Marco Beltrami (Deep Water) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tbchvDbRXw

Set to hit theaters next year during Thanksgiving weekend is the long-in-development sequel, Gladiator 2. Directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Peter Craig and David Scarpa, the film takes place twenty-something years after the events of the first film, with the story now following a fully-grown Lucius (Paul Mescal), the nephew of Commodus whose life was saved by the fallen Maximus. Scott will also produce the film with Lucy Fisher, David Franzoni, Laurie MacDonald, Walter F. Parkes, Michael Pruss, and Douglas Wick. The production crew includes special effects supervisor Neil Corbould, costume designer Janty Yates, production designer Arthur Max, and director of photography Dariusz Wolski. A joint-venture production between Scott Free, Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, and Red Wagon Entertainment, the film will be released on November 22, 2024 by domestically by Paramount Pictures and internationally by Universal Pictures. Music: "The Wolves" – Harry Gregson-Williams (The Last Duel) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq1kpa-eAiU