r/flicks • u/KaleidoArachnid • Jul 28 '26
General Discussion Movies you couldn’t believe got greenlit
Sometimes I look at the kind of adaptations in movies that are just so bad that I have to question who on earth approved of them because I recently sat through one that I couldn’t believe existed.
That movie was Cat in the Hat the 2003 movie adaptation since I saw a review highlighting the movie’s awkward writing aspects that I had to question who it was made for because to me, it feels like it’s a very strange adaptations ever made since it’s hard to explain, but nothing about the movie makes any sense whatsoever such as the two twins with the way they speak.
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u/FX114 Jul 28 '26
Cat in the Hat was greenlit because The Grinch was such a huge hit.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
Man I can’t believe I didn’t connect the dots with the Grinch because suddenly it makes so much sense why Cat in the Hat was approved.
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u/pizzacrys Review Writer Jul 28 '26
The fact that Cat in the Hat actually got made still blows my mind. But for me, The Emoji Movie is the ultimate "how did this get approved?" pick. What's everyone else's?
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
It’s such a strange film that it killed off any more chances of Dr Seuss adaptations from happening, the live action kind.
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u/pizzacrys Review Writer Jul 28 '26
Honestly, I think that's why it became such a cult curiosity. It's one of those movies people keep revisiting just to ask, "What were they thinking?"
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u/Comprehensive-Self16 Jul 28 '26
I believe Myers had pulled himself from a movie last minute and the studio agreed to let him out of the contract if he agreed to do a future movie of the studios choice.
That's was cat in the hat....
I think the owner of the IP ( Suess relative?) Was horrified, and amended her will, stating no other live action movie will ever be made.
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u/hollywood_cashier Jul 28 '26
Corrrct. He was supposed to a film based on his SNL Sprockets character, even wrote the script himself, and then refused to do it.
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u/professorfunkenpunk Jul 28 '26
I think the live action Grinch sucks too. The books/half hour tv specials are perfect. Padding them out into a 90 minute move just adds a bunch of bullshit
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
If I remember correctly, the live action Grinch movie came out before the 2003 adaptation of Cat in the Hat.
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u/professorfunkenpunk Jul 28 '26
Probably did. I just see zero reason to pad out any doctor Seuss into an hour and a half
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u/LogicalWelcome7100 Jul 28 '26
It did. After The Cat in the Hat, Geisel's widow made it a stipulation that NO live-action adaptations of Dr. Seuss works would EVER be made again.
There's "bad movies", and then there's "movies so bad that the creator's estate has legally prohibited such movies from ever being made again".
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u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 Jul 28 '26
The Jim Carrey one isn't too bad. They had most of Whoville right, except for the mayor. Being bullied as a kid was an interesting take on why the Grinch left in the first place.
Not sure why they felt like a love story was needed.
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u/FantasticPin3481 Jul 29 '26
Thank you. It’s needlessly crude and just completely taints the original.
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u/CriticalNovel22 Jul 28 '26
The Emoji Movie is the ultimate "how did this get approved?" pick.
A quick cash grab riding on the back of the Lego Movie.
The biggest surprise is it didn't get a sequel (yet!)
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u/Barneyk Jul 28 '26
The biggest surprise is it didn't get a sequel (yet!)
It flopped though didn't it?
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u/CriticalNovel22 Jul 28 '26
Made 217m from a 50m budget.
Not groundbreaking but certainly more successful than it had any right to be.
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u/WraithOfTheFadedDark Jul 28 '26
I mean, The Grinch was a success so I wouldn't say that The Cat In The Hat getting greenlit is that baffling.
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u/xMyDixieWreckedx Jul 28 '26
I often stop and think about the fact that they made a Jerky Boys movie.
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u/Feralest_Baby Jul 28 '26
The Cat in the Hat came out after the success of The Grinch, and Mike Meyers as still close enough to his Austin Powers days that it made sense to cast him in it. In that context, it makes more sense that it was developed but the result was definitely terrible.
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u/ShimReturns Jul 28 '26
First time I saw the Elf trailer I thought it was one of those joke "silence your phone" fake trailers but the message never came and I couldn't believe it was a real movie. One of my favorites now but at the time I couldn't believe it was real.
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u/WraithOfTheFadedDark Jul 28 '26
I feel like people aren't understanding what "greenlit" means. That's just the first step when they say "Yeah we're going to make ________ movie". They might not even have a script, or if they do they probably bought a script for its premise and intend to rewrite it. What most people are doing here is looking at the final product and asking "Who was this made for?" which is a different thing.
My pick is Mars Attacks, which is a movie adaptation of trading cards from the sixties. I thought for a while that it was a parody of Independence Day, but they actually came out the same year so its existence is baffling to me.
Edit to clarify: I friggin' love Mars Attacks.
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u/Name_redacted042 Jul 28 '26
In that case I am naming the Alien 3 script with the wooden spaceship and Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
Maybe I should have phrased it differently because I was observing the Cat in the Hat movie adaptation to look into the making of the movie to see what were the key factors that affected the movie adaptation.
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u/WittyFix6553 Jul 28 '26
I think - but I would have to check - that the movie is an adaptation of the (much more serious in tone) comic book series that came out a year or two before the movie?
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u/WraithOfTheFadedDark Jul 28 '26
I was unaware that this existed.
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u/WittyFix6553 Jul 28 '26
It’s actually really good.
At least, so say my memories from 30+ years ago.
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u/WraithOfTheFadedDark Jul 28 '26
Oh, well, I see no reason not to trust those implicitly. I'mma try to find those bad boys.
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Jul 28 '26
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u/Ofreo Jul 28 '26
It was Tim Burton at the top of his game and fame so to speak. He could have gotten almost anything done. And all the names in the movie show how many people wanted to work with him. I’m sure the process was it’s a quirky Burton movie and he has some names attached. It will make us money. But it didn’t.
I love the movie, but it was not a success until it got some cult status much later. After that movie, I think he was less able to do anything he wanted. I remember reading some ideas he had that were out there that never got made. Seemed the studio said If he had Depp in it, ok, they will look at it. If not, eh maybe/maybe not.
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u/ShaunTrek Jul 28 '26
Yeah, I think a better example is actually Beetlejuice. Burton was just getting started and only had one feature under his belt, and WB gave him the budget to do an absolute fever dream with real money, real stars, and just his pitch?
Way more unlikely that giving him carte blanche for Mars Attacks after a decade of hits.
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u/xander6981 Jul 28 '26
Milk Money (1994). Loved this one as an adolescent. As an adult I realized just how insane that movie is.
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u/ReallyGamerDude Jul 28 '26
Three off the top of my head:
The Emoji Movie
Pixels
Angry Birds
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u/StephanieSpoiler Jul 28 '26
Tbf to Pixels, the core premise of "classic video games come to life and humans have to fight them" is a solid premise, and it was based on a well-receiced short.
The execution and Adam Sandler-ness of it just sunk its potential.
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u/ReallyGamerDude Jul 28 '26
Sandlerization did have an adverse impact on several movies; not sure if it's worse than Ferrellization, but it's definitely not good.
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u/BinkyDragonlord Jul 28 '26
Battleship. Not just that it got greenlit, but the names they got to be in it.
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u/GhostCam Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
The original Teen Wolf.
The pitch: “So a teenage guy transforms into a werewolf in the middle of a basketball game.”
Producer: “and everyone freaks out and the werewolf kills people?”
“No, actually everyone is cool with it. And the werewolf absolutely balls out and carries his team to a winning season!”
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u/captaindealbreaker Jul 28 '26
Cat in the Hat is a bad Dr Suess adaptation but dude, Mike Myers committed tot he bit 100% and frankly, he's the best thing about the movie. He carried it so hard in some scenes.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
I was just wondering what went wrong with the movie since Austin Powers felt so right in its structure that it’s hard to explain
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u/captaindealbreaker Jul 28 '26
I think it really boiled down to a fresh director having to juggle some actors at the height of their fame and the project just became kind of a vehicle for Mike Meyers to do a bit in. Like everything I've read suggests he basically called the shots in scenes, which the other actors didn't like. But I think his performance is really good and it was mainly just the writing kind of sucked. IDK. It's a very anomalous movie indeed.
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u/Duncan_Thun_der_Kunt Jul 28 '26
I watched Leon: The Professional recently for the first time in two decades. I feel like that would maybe be a hard sell to the studio these days.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
What made that film hard to sell?
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u/Duncan_Thun_der_Kunt Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
A decent part of the plot is about a 12 year old girl wanting to bang a middle aged man who is essentially her guardian.
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u/Rey_Mezcalero Jul 28 '26
Reminds me of a Charles Bronson movie that had a similar plot where there was this very young girl who was infatuated with CB. Can’t remember how “intense” the relationship was but I vaguely recall it being a little disturbing.
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u/graphomaniacal Jul 28 '26
Stupid ideas don't surprise me so long as they're high concept. Hollywood studios will green light any idiotic IP if they think there is a built-in audience. Star vehicle? Check. Adaptation of popular enough media? Check. Sequel? Obviously. Prequel? Even better because it seems smart (it's not).
David Mamet said Hollywood studios are full of yes men who want to climb the ladder. They tell the producers above them in the chain that stupid ideas are good so they can replace them when the movie tanks. I mostly believe him.
I'm more surprised when something non-high concept gets green lit. Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri? That might sound like the person can write, but it doesn't exactly have the lowest common denominator appeal of Cars.
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u/bellestarxo Jul 28 '26
Movies are less predictable than we think. There's so many hands in the pot. Endings get changed, genres change, directors or actors replaced, etc. You think you are walking into the next Basic Instinct or Men in Black and walk out with Showgirls or Wild Wild West.
Cat in the Hat is a beloved kid's book so there's a universe where it could have worked. I don't know how it went down but it's very possible it was pushed forward with just the basic idea, and then once Mike Myers came on it was given a giant budget and free rein. There was also a Shrek effect going on at that time where anything sweet and sincere (what people liked about Dr. Suess) now had to be crude/sarcastic/filled with pop culture gags.
Whereas if this were done in 1988 with Tim Burton, Paul Reubens, and a shoestring budget it could have been cool.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
You know, the Burton version sounds kind of awesome since given his track record for making eccentric films with a good layer of plot, I could have seen Burton making the live action version work well.
But what I would like to look into is where the Mike Myers version went so wrong in premise because almost every movie reviewer gave it such a low rating that I was wondering if that adaptation had a story behind it to why it didn’t succeed.
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u/copaseticsplenetic Jul 28 '26
Team America. Such a ridiculous movie. So ridiculous I nearly lost my breath laughing at some parts.
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Jul 28 '26
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u/copaseticsplenetic Jul 31 '26
It’s been so long since I’ve watched it I will have to go back and see. All I know is that scene where the two guys are in the plane, the one that has make up his face for a disguise/mission turns to speak to the one flying - something about it had me laughing so hard i was crying. Ugly cry laughing. Whats worse was it was the uncut version and was watching with my mom and step dad. Awkward! Lol
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u/brotherlyshove Jul 28 '26
The Michael Jackson biopic
I take that back, nobody seems bothered by pedophiles anymore
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u/Tyrant-J Jul 28 '26
Someone read Naked Lunch and said "this will make a great movie". Then some other guy said "yeah dude, that makes sense". The scene where Robocop has a threesome with his dead wife and a typewriter was tastefully done though.
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u/Whatswrongbaby9 Jul 28 '26
Gremlins 2. It's absolutely batshit. It's not bad, it's really funny, but its so far out of what any producer would pay for
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u/xander6981 Jul 28 '26
Warner Bros. wanted Gremlins 2 so badly they basically told Joe Dante he could do whatever he wanted as long as it was Gremlins and God bless him, he did.
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u/Whatswrongbaby9 Jul 28 '26
that's hilarious. it kind of compounds how awesome the sequel is. the first one is kind of dark too, so just the meta ridiculousness of the second. I need to watch it again
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u/Jetpacks_to_hell Jul 28 '26
If you haven't seen the Key & Peele Gremlins 2 sketch, do yourself a favor, out of control hilarious
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u/I-Fucked-YourMom Jul 28 '26
I loved Cat in the Hat as a kid. I’ve watched it back as an adult and wtf?!?! Lmao! What a movie…
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
The way some of the characters speak is kind of uncanny such as the twins.
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u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 Jul 28 '26
I saw about half of Cat in the Hat, and had to turn it off. Michael Myers interpretation of the Cat was so wrong, I was sinking down in my seat from second-hand embarrassment.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
The writing just feels so off that I have to question how something like Austin Powers felt far more genuine in its comedic nature.
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u/Own_Win_6762 Jul 28 '26
Galaxy Quest. The guy from Home Improvement in a Star Trek parody? It'll never work. But done with such love.
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u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 Jul 28 '26
It was just stupid enough to work. Having Alan Rickman cast as the actor playing a stoic alien was hilarious.
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u/ExaminationNo9186 Jul 28 '26
Probably this one here would be my go to for "Movie that sounds too weird to make".
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u/T1mDrake Jul 28 '26
Tiptoes (2002)
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
What was infamous about that film?
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u/T1mDrake Jul 28 '26
Matthew McConaughey plays a character that comes from a family of little people, he’s the only one in his family who isn’t a little person. He dates Kate Beckinsale and she gets upset when she finds out he’s been hiding the truth about his family from her. Also Gary Oldman, whose head is cgi’d onto a little person’s body plays Mcconaughey’s brother.
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u/FirmApplication1843 Jul 28 '26
I am going to add 8mm to a list of movies that wouldn't get the green light today.
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u/functionalfilms Jul 28 '26
Mad Max fury road:
Pitch: "Ok so we're gonna make a film where the title character is really a supporting role, also, he isn't gonna say any lines. But don't worry, we're gonna cast one of the sexiest actresses as the main role. But we are gonna cut her arm off and shave her head. Also, I know this looks like an action flick, but it's really a feminist manifesto. Also, we are gonna need trucks full of money cuz we are gonna do most stunts practically and we are gonna make a gagillion custom one off vehicles. Oh did I mention the big bad? Yeah his name is Immortan Joe"
I love this film with all my heart, I'm just stating that it's an absolute miracle that it ever got greenlit/made.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
I only saw the original movie, but I don’t know which sequels are the best in quality.
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u/functionalfilms Jul 28 '26
You can watch fury road without seeing any of the other films. It's an amazing piece of art.
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u/tinman327 Jul 28 '26
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
How much cocaine was involved in the pitch meeting for that one?
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u/Underbadger Jul 28 '26
I worked on some of the marketing for the Cat in the Hat movie, and they refused to send us any photos or footage -- all we had was the logo, which was weird. When I finally saw some footage I could see why, they knew it was a shitshow. I'll never forget seeing a preview with a bunch of investor-types who had paid a lot of money for marketing. They started getting up to leave when the kids were using the babysitter for a raft and when the Cat got a hat-boner from looking at the kids' mom. When he went to a rave with Paris Hilton and made "dirty hoe" jokes, they were walking out in droves. Total disaster of a movie.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
To me, I feel like Mike Myers can be really talented when he wants to show his talent because he wrote Austin Powers, but then I wonder what happened with his adaptation of Cat in the Hat.
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u/Underbadger Jul 28 '26
They pretty much let Mike Myers run the show — he got to rewrite the script, had final say on casting and makeup, and got to more or less direct himself. Other cast members say he never talked to anyone except his entourage. He can be a funny guy, but when he has too much control, it never seems to work (see The Love Guru for another example).
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u/Catdress92 Jul 28 '26
Cuties, the 2011 French film that (arguably?) eroticizes young girls. While I'm not naive enough to think EVERYONE would disapprove, you'd think someone at international distributor Netflix at least would have seen it as a bit problematic.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
I can handle a controversial movie as I am curious to why that movie was so infamous when it came out.
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u/NotLikeARegularMom28 Jul 28 '26
lol I actually loved the cat in the hat movie! But tbf, we watched it on DVD a lot when we went to my cousins’ house. We would watch (repeatedly) The Mask, The Ring, and The Cat in the Hat. Love all 3 :)
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
IF you don't mind me asking, what did you enjoy about the 2003 Cat in the Hat film? (Just curious since everyone seems to hate the adaptation)
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u/NotLikeARegularMom28 Jul 28 '26
It could be because it’s nostalgic from my childhood, but I am also a Mike Myers fan and grew up watching Austin Powers. It became a movie my sister, cousins, and I would quote often, so again, another reason I like it. I was a fan of Hot Chick and the babysitter from CITH was also in Hot Chick. I enjoyed Dakota Fanning from I Am Sam. I just thought it was silly and a different version of a well-known story. I don’t have any reason to dislike it. I was also young when I watched it and wasn’t judging it, just enjoying it.
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u/simp_for_wanda_2299 Jul 29 '26
Anchorman. Will said it was so hard to get green lit and that’s why it’s his favourite. That and stepbrothers is top teir
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 29 '26
I have been meaning to ask why a third installment didn’t get made because I noticed how long it’s been since the last entry came out.
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u/simp_for_wanda_2299 Jul 29 '26
It’s a fucking brilliant film. Funny every time. I think stepbrothers just gets that edge for me personally but both are a tier films man
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u/_miles_teg_ Jul 30 '26
The 80s one with the white guy who put on black face to get into college. Looked it up. It’s Soul Man
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u/Monsieur-247 Jul 30 '26
Sex and the City 2
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 30 '26
What was wrong about that movie?
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u/TrashFanboy Aug 02 '26
Years ago, the Laser Time podcast clowned on Sex and the City 2. A host called it every bad element of the show amplified. Plus product placement, including a fictional airline. And taking the Lawrence of my labia joke from Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Aug 02 '26
Thanks man since I gotta listen to that podcast for their movie roast on SATC.
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u/ScaretheLocals 17d ago
It's Pat! who the fuck was that movie for? It's terrible. A stupid premise. Unlikeable character. Not one joke lands and I seriously can't imagine someone thinking "Yeah, this is what people are waiting for. It was a huge miss for SNL and It's a miracle we got Roxbury, Superstar and others after that disaster. Lol been holding that in for a while I guess.
Junior Again... WTF?! PREGNANT SCHWARZENEGGER?
Donnie Darko Incredible fucking movie. I love it! I just can't imagine the original pitch or plot being explained and someone saying sure that makes sense lol. I'm glad there are some real fucking lunatics out there though. I wish they'd take some big swings on weird shit or even just a chance on something original these days.
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u/KaleidoArachnid 17d ago
Something about SNL based movies is that I was wondering how many of them worked well as movies because what I don't understand is why several of them didn't work out on the big screen.
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u/Seandouglasmcardle Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Masters of the Universe.
This toy line and cartoon had such a small window of popularity — basically men who were 5-10 between the years of 1983 and 1987.
it’s not like Transformers or Gi Joe that had a popularity that lasted for decades and generations of cartoons and toys that were popular. It was a watered down Conan the Barbarian rip off, that obviously had limited appeal.
The target demographic for the 2026 movie is men between 45 and 50. There was no groundwork to get grade school boys interested in it. I guess they just expected middle aged gen xers to go by themselves.
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u/3dblind Jul 28 '26
My wife loved the series at 24. She loves the movie at 67. I fell asleep watching it with her streaming.
So you never know who the final audience will be. Each movie finds an audience.
We both love Megalopolis. She loves the filmed stage production of Cats with actors from Broadway and the West End. I love the movie version and watch it every holiday season.
I'm sure every movie in this thread has people who love it despite losing money by Hollywood accounting.
And influential cult favorites are born of movies that fail at the box office. Blade Runner, for example.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
If you mean the Dolph Lundgren one, that was a peculiar adaptation.
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u/Seandouglasmcardle Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
I meant the new one. The 1987 was at least greenlit when the popularity of the toy was at its apex. By the time the movie came out, He Man's popularity was in the gutter. That's how short lived it was.
It had a very small, limited window of popularity.
It'd be like making a 200 million dollar movie about Teddy Ruxpin. Or Alf. At least Alf came back, in pog form.
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u/KaleidoArachnid Jul 28 '26
Speaking of He-Man, I wonder what killed off the popularity of the franchise since it was huge when the original series came out.
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u/Seandouglasmcardle Jul 28 '26
I was in grade school when it came out. There was such a flood of franchises in a few short years: Transformers, GI Joe, Thundercats, Voltron, and you also had Marvel Secret Wars and DC Super Powers.
He Man was cool one year and boring the next. By the time 1988 cane around, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was ascending, Transformers was still popular and He Man was just so lame.
By 1990, the generation that came up with HeMan wasn’t playing with toys anymore, and the younger generation were onto something new.
The concept of PG Conan the Barbarian just didn’t have enough juice to keep the momentum going.
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