If a modern remake of “High Noon” starring Mark Wahlberg sounds like a bad idea, Whitta is there with you. He developed a synopsis for such a remake, which would have “taken place in central California following a 9.0 earthquake”. But “again complicated rights issues killed it just as we were about to set it up,” he tweeted. “Maybe for the best? This job is weird sometimes.”
Modern remake of HIGH NOON which I developed for Mark Wahlberg…set in central California following a 9.0 earthquake…again messy rights issues killed it just in the nick of time when we were about to set it up…maybe for the better? This job is sometimes weird. pic.twitter.com/uq0oFLKktf
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) February 11, 2022
Last month, we saw a new trailer for the “Halo” live-streaming series coming to Paramount+. Whitta also presented a ‘Halo’ TV show “at Amblin in 2013, for an iteration long before the one about to debut,” he wrote. “Master Chief didn’t show up until Episode #5…again, probably for the best it didn’t happen…I think the new show is going to be good.”
The HALO TV show I pitched to Amblin in 2013, for an iteration long before the one about to debut soon… Master Chief didn’t show up until episode #5… again, probably for the best, it didn’t happen” ¦ I think the new show is going to be good. pic.twitter.com/KrXePt88T7
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) February 11, 2022
Finally, there is “Godzilla Forever”. Whitta described this project as a “futuristic reboot of GODZILLA that I developed with whoever held the US rights at the time”. It was in development “several years before Gareth [Edwards] appeared and created the version that laid the foundation for Legendary’s current Monsterverse.”
Futuristic reboot of GODZILLA that I developed with whoever held the US rights at the time (I forget)…several years before Gareth showed up and created the version that laid the foundation for the current Legendary monsterverse… pic.twitter.com/OdyCi7cCHG
— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) February 11, 2022
Whitta also shared a “Fullmetal Alchemist” story proposal, a look at a “radical reboot” of “Battlestar Galactica,” and a few other original ideas he’s pitched over the years. Seeing all the unrealized projects he’s spent time working on brings to mind all the other screenwriters working on projects that may never see the light of day. It might give you a new appreciation for the next movie or TV show you watch to think that for every one that’s made, there are plenty more that never even made it out of development.
