Frank or Francis

Release: Possibly never?

The Pitch: This one's a musical-comedy - a Hollywood satire in which an auteur director (Frank) and a movie blog commenter (Francis) go to war with one another. Francis hates almost every movie he watches. For a more spoilerific summary, you can check this post.

Director: Charlie Kaufman
Cast: Unknown, though the following actors were mentioned before the project seemingly fell apart. Jack Black (Francis?), Steve Carell, Kevin Kline (Richard / Richard's Head), Catherine Keener, Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Banks.

For now, this project seems dead. Charlie told Mike Ryan:

Kaufman: [Frank or Francis] could still happen. It would have to be reinvented, though. We had a whole cast and we were headed into pre-production. So, I’d have to get people back and who knows if they would be interested anymore. But, at this point, we don’t have any money, so that’s a secondary concern.

[...]

So, if you had given your scripts to other directors, you could have gotten two or three movies made in that timespan?

Kaufman: Absolutely. Just because I had the most extraordinary cast for Frank or Francis. Extraordinary. I mean, it was like crazy. And the reason I kept hiring more and more crazy, well-known people was because it was the only way I was going to get any money. Even then I couldn’t get money.

I don’t understand how that happens.

Kaufman: Well, you know, 2008 was a disastrous year for the economy. Everything changed in the business after that. No, really. Sony Pictures made Adaptation. Not like Sony Classics, Sony Pictures made that movie. They would never make that movie now. It’s impossible for them. It’s a different business. And if Synecdoche made $100 million, it would be a different issue. But, it didn’t. (Source)