The Best Movies Never Made

In 2016, just a few weeks before The Witch’s theatrical release, it was announced that Robert Eggers would write and direct an 8 episode miniseries based on Rasputin, a sexual deviant, mystic healer, political saboteur and renegade monk who befriended the family of Emperor Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia, and gained considerable influence in late imperial Russia. The project was eventually cancelled since the studio, MRC (who were responsible for The Dark Tower film adaptation), and Eggers (who wanted it to be more historically accurate) couldn’t come to an agreement creatively.

Another project based on Rasputin, this time a movie written by American Sniper writer Jason Hall for Warner Bros that was set to star Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role, has also been stuck in development hell. This project was said to be a psychological character study of Rasputin that told the story of “a child who lost the better part of himself when his brother died, and was capable of kindness but also ruthlessness”. After being announced in 2013, the project has seemingly been shelved.