During their career, film-making duoPhil Lord and Christopher Miller have worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under their direction. Some of these projects are officially cancelled or fell indevelopment hell.
By December 2010, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were in talks to replaceAdam Shankman andMark Waters as directors of the movie musical comedyBob the Musical forWalt Disney Pictures and Benderspink'sChris Bender and the lateJ.C. Spink and Contrafilm'sBeau Flynn andTripp Vinson attached to produce the movie.[1] In December 2011, Lord and Miller were officially attached to direct the movie from a screenplay from Matthew Fogel,Marc Shaiman would work on the music,Robert Lopez would write the songs.[2][3] In July 2015, Lord and Miller were replaced byMichel Hazanavicius as director,Michael Chabon writing the script,Bret McKenzie would write the songs,Tom Cruise was in talks to star in the movie, and Bender, Spink, Flynn and Vinson still attached as producers.[4]
On June 3, 2012, it was reported that Lord and Miller were in talks to direct the long-in-development film adaptation ofGlen David Gold'shistorical fiction novelCarter Beats the Devil, withMichael Gilio writing the screenplay and Jon Shestack producing forWarner Bros. Set in the 1920s, the book features such real-life figures as stage magicianCharles Joseph Carter, then-PresidentWarren G. Harding, television inventorPhilo Farnsworth,Harry Houdini and the youngMarx brothers.[5] In a 2014 interview with/Film, Miller updated that he and Lord were still working on the project, but that it's "been a little tricky to crack".[6] By the following year, it was still in development.[7]
On June 27, 2013, it was reported that Lord and Miller will produceThe Reunion, Christopher Miller's high school comedy that he will solo direct, with Jonathan Kadin and Hannah Minghella overseeing the production forSony.[8]
On September 30, 2013, Lord and Miller were set to produce Chris Romano's family comedy seriesTorched, forFox Broadcasting Company withJohnny Depp’sInfinitum Nihil producing the pilot episode.[9]
In April 2014, Sony pursued a short list of potential directors forGhostbusters 3, including Phil Lord and Chris Miller, but they passed on the project.[10]
In August 2014, Lord and Miller were attached to reboot the 1981 TV seriesThe Greatest American Hero forFox. They were to executive produce the series, with22 Jump Street co-writerRodney Rothman writing the pilot and also executive producing.[11] By 2017, Lord, Miller, and Rothman were out as20th Century Fox Television were interested in developing a female-led reboot fromFresh Off the Boat creatorNahnatchka Khan and would instead air onABC.[12] However, ABC decided to not pick up the show in 2018.[13]
On September 10, 2014,23 Jump Street was confirmed.[14] Channing Tatum had yet to sign on to the project, stating, "I don't know if that joke works three times, so we'll see."[15] On August 7, 2015, it was revealed that Lord and Miller would not direct the film, but instead write and produce. A first draft of the film's script has been completed.[16] On December 10, 2014, it was revealed that Sony was planning a crossover betweenMen in Black andJump Street. The news was leaked afterSony's system was hacked[17] and then confirmed by the directors of the films, Lord and Miller, during an interview about it.[18][19]James Bobin was announced as the director in March 2016.[20][21] The title of the crossover was later revealed asMIB 23, and it was revealed that the crossover would replace a23 Jump Street film. However, the project was canceled in January 2019. Shortly after, Phil Lord stated that, despiteMIB 23 not happening, a third sequel entitled24 Jump Street was in development.[22]
In early 2015, a female-driven21 Jump Street film was rumored to also be in the works. In December 2016,Rodney Rothman was confirmed to direct the film.[23][24] In December 2018,Tiffany Haddish was confirmed to lead the film andAwkwafina is in talks.[25]
By April 2015, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were writing a story treatment forThe Flash film for theDC Extended Universe.[26] In October 2015,Seth Grahame-Smith was in negotiations to direct and write the script, based on the treatment by Lord and Miller.[27] He departed the project due to creative differences in April 2016.[28]
On September 30, 2015, Lord and Miller were set to produce the television series adaptation of the podcastSerial forFox Broadcasting Company withJulie Snyder,Sarah Koenig, Alissa Shipp,Ira Glass, and Seth Cohen producing the television series adaptation.[29]
On October 21, 2015, Lord and Miller were set to produce Julius Sharpe's science-fiction comedy seriesIn Time, forFox Broadcasting Company,[30] which got a pilot order in January 2016.[31]
In January 2017, Lord and Miller began directing a then-untitled film, a standaloneStar Wars movie based on theHan Solo character. On June 20, 2017, it was reported that they had been fired from the project byLucasfilm, after over four-and-a-half months of filming, about three-quarters through principal photography.[32] Lucasfilm announced that "creative differences" were the reason, withEntertainment Weekly reporting that Lord and Miller were going off-script and trying to make the film into more of a comedy. They were unwilling to compromise with Lucasfilm and writerLawrence Kasdan on the direction of the film, preferring their vision. Two days later,Ron Howard was announced as the replacement, to complete the film and reshoots.[33][34] Lord and Miller received executive-producer credits onSolo: A Star Wars Story.[35]
In November 2017, Lord and Miller commented on their departure fromSolo: A Star Wars Story. Lord stated "The experience of shooting the movie was wonderful. We had the most incredible cast and crew and collaborators. [...] We're really proud of the work we did on the movie and we wish everybody the best." Miller added "As Phil said, we had such a great relationship with cast and crew, we were really rooting for them. After we took a much-needed vacation, we got back into it and now we're writing and producing asequel toThe Lego Movie and producing aMiles Moralesanimated Spider-Man."[36]
In September 2017, Lord and Miller were announced as co-directors of the film adaptation ofAndy Weir's 2017 novelArtemis.[37] However, due to theDisney-Fox merger and producerSimon Kinberg ending his deal with the company, the fate of the project is unknown.
By February 2019, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were set to direct and produce the live-action/animated hybrid adaptation ofLee Bacon's children's bookLast Human forTristar Pictures andHenry Gayden writing the screenplay.[38]
On November 14, 2019, Lord and Miller were set to direct an original story fromAndy Weir forUniversal Pictures.[39]
On December 19, 2019, Lord and Miller were set to produce Nicole Delaney & Matt Hausfater's wellness sit-com for Fox.[40]
In August 2020, it was announced that Lord and Miller would produce an adaptation ofSimon Rich's short storyEveryday Parenting Tips, with Rich set to both write the screenplay & produce the movie,Paul King attached to direct, andRyan Reynolds attached to star and produce through Maximum Effort forUniversal Pictures.[41]
In November 2020, it was announced that Lord and Miller would produce and possibly direct aUniversal Monsters comedic thriller, with Wes Tooke set to write the screenplay based on the story idea fromReid Carolin, andChanning Tatum attached to star and produce through his Free Association company with Carolin & Peter Kiernan forUniversal Pictures.[42]
In May 2021, it was announced that Lord and Miller would produce and direct an adaptation of the bookThe Premonition: A Pandemic Story, which chronicles the early days of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[43]
In a 2022 interview with/Film during promotion ofThe Afterparty, Lord and Miller expressed interest in making a biopic ofHall & Oates.[44]
In March 2022, it was announced that Lord and Miller would produce Michelle Morgan's Western comedy seriesWestern, in collaboration withSony Pictures Television andAmazon Studios forAmazon Freevee,[45] with a cast lead byAnna Konkle,Guy Burnet, Luca Diaz andDaniella Pineda.[46][47] In March 2023, Freevee passed on the series, and agreed that the series can be shopped around to another platform.[48]
