Turnaround infilmmaking is the use of outside assistance to resolve problems preventing a film project from completing its development phase and entering thepre-production phase. A project stuck in development phase is said to be indevelopment hell.

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The outside help needed to get a film project into turnaround may appear in the form of new money being invested into a project in development hell, or it might come along as another outside studio taking interest in a project which the original studio may find difficult to move forward into the pre-production phase. When an outside source takes over a film project from development hell in one studio and transfers the film project to another studio which is willing to invest further resources to move the project into pre-production, then the project is said to have gone through a 'turnaround'. The film project can now move forward out of development hell in one studio into the pre-production phase of filmmaking at another studio.

The term 'turnaround' is borrowed from business operations and management consulting where it is used to describe business ventures which are in some form ofinsolvency and require a 'business turnaround' or 'management turnaround' to become profitable and make a 'turnaround' in business performance. In the case of the filmmaking process, the transfer of the film project from development hell, at one studio, leading to the project receiving a green light to begin pre-production, at another studio, is referred to as a 'turnaround' for that film.

A 'turnaround' or 'turnaround deal' is occasionally used to describe an arrangement in thefilm industry whereby the production costs of a project that onestudio has developed are declared a loss on the company's tax return, thereby preventing the studio from exploiting the property any further. The rights can then be sold to another studio in exchange for the cost of development plus interest.^[1]

Michael Cieply defined the term inThe New York Times as "arrangements under which producers can move a project from one studio to another under certain conditions".^[2] Some examples include:

• Columbia Pictures stopped production ofSteven Spielberg'sE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, butUniversal Pictures picked up the film and made it a success.^[3][4][5]
• Back to the Future was under development at Columbia Pictures, while Columbia was developing a satire of the Universal-owned noir filmDouble Indemnity (1944) calledBig Trouble (1986). Its similarities toDouble Indemnity meant the studio would violate Universal Pictures' copyright. With production imminent, Columbia asked for the rights from Universal; in exchange, Universal obtained the rights toBack to the Future. The film wound up being a hit.^[6][7][8]
• Dirty Dancing began development atMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but management changes at the studio put the film in limbo.Vestron Pictures eventually picked up the film and it was a success.^[9][10]
• Total Recall originally began work atDe Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), but after DEG suffered some box-office failures likeDune and filed for bankruptcy in 1988, actorArnold Schwarzenegger convincedCarolco Pictures to buy the film. The film was a hit.^{[11][12][13][14]}
• Home Alone andEdward Scissorhands were originally developed underWarner Bros., but the studio shut down the projects after their budgets increased.20th Century Fox took control ofHome Alone after secret meetings with producer and screenwriterJohn Hughes, and it was a hit. Warner Bros. also sentEdward Scissorhands to 20th Century Fox afterTim Burton collaborated with Warner onPee-wee's Big Adventure,Beetlejuice, andBatman (1989).^[15][16]
• The 1993 filmMy Life's in Turnaround, starring Donal Lardner Ward,Eric Schaeffer,Martha Plimpton andPhoebe Cates, tells the story of two friends who attempt to sell the story of their lives to a variety of studios.
• Tim Burton'sEd Wood was originally in development at Columbia Pictures, but the studio put the film in "turnaround" over Burton's decision to shoot inblack-and-white.Ed Wood was taken toWalt Disney Studios, which produced the film through itsTouchstone Pictures label.^[17][18] The film becamebox-office failure.
• Quentin Tarantino'sPulp Fiction began production atTriStar Pictures, but the studio turned it down after deeming the script to be "too demented".Miramax co-chairmanHarvey Weinstein picked up the project and it was a success.^[19]
• Carolco Pictures sold off the rights to several films in production, includingStargate (toLe Studio Canal+ and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer),Last of the Dogmen, andShowgirls (the latter, toChargeurs^[20]). This was done due to their financial troubles and in order to fund their next big-budget film,Cutthroat Island.^{[21][22][23][24][25]}Cutthroat Island wound up being a massive box-office bomb and led to the demise of Carolco Pictures.
• The turnaround ofThe Boondock Saints is documented inOvernight, a 2003 documentary that mainly focuses on the perspective of how directorTroy Duffy "fell" in Hollywood.
• The Lord of the Rings film trilogy originally began development at Miramax, but after Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein tried to force the project into one film, directorPeter Jackson argued his way until Weinstein agreed to allow Jackson to take the project toNew Line Cinema, and was a massive success.^{[26][27][28][29]}
• Over the Hedge originally began production atFox Animation Studios, however after the studio closed down after the failure ofTitan A.E.,DreamWorks Animation picked up the film and it became a hit.
• After the rights to adaptStephenie Meyer's novelTwilight were purchased byMTV Films in 2004, they were optioned byParamount Pictures where it remained in turnaround before they let the rights lapse in 2007.Summit Entertainment picked them up and releasedTwilight in 2008.^{[30][31][32][33][34]}
• Watchmen originally began development at 20th Century Fox before moving to Warner Bros., where it remained indevelopment hell for over two decades before it was finally released in 2009.^[2][35][36]
• The 2012 filmArgo makes several references to the film that was faked for the1980 CIA Iranian hostage extraction operation as being "in turnaround".^[37]
• Vivo was originally developed at DreamWorks Animation, but was cancelled due to the restructuring at the company. It was later revived bySony Pictures Animation and was successful.^[38][39]

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