The reasons why these 7 comedy films will never be released

Following the success of John Hughes’ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a sequel was teased for some time. The film was expected to follow an older Ferris trying to overcome a midlife crisis by taking another eventful day off.

However, neither the director or the movie’s lead star Matthew Broderick were keen on the idea, and it is unlikely to ever come into fruition following John’s death in 2009. A spin-off movie, Sam and Victor’s Day Off, has also been shelved after years of development.

The Ghostbusters were also incredibly successful in the 1980s, but despite hopes for a trilogy, a third movie featuring the original cast never happened. While there were hopes to make a third Ghostbusters movie in the nineties, it never made it past the development stages, partly because of Bill Murray’s reluctance to return to the franchise.

Instead, the Ghostbusters had a 2016 all-female reboot starring Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, while Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire have kept the franchise going.

With a star-studded cast including Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr. and Eva Longoria, All-Star Weekend was completely finished and ready for release. However, in 2022 Jamie revealed that Hollywood found the movie too offensive so it would never be released. The actor, who also directed the comedy film, said that was never his intention and he instead was “trying to break down the sensitive corners”.

Fans of nineties comedy Galaxy Quest have long hoped for a sequel, and its star Tim Allen previously revealed that a screenplay for the follow-up did exist. However, it was cancelled following the death of Alan Rickman in 2016. 

“There’s been a script and our friend Alan Rickman passed away, so that script involving he and I in the whole story disappeared,” Tim later revealed.

Bruce Willis was set to star as a retired ice hockey player who falls in love in Broadway Brawler. The actor filmed for 20 days before the movie was scrapped, partly due to his concerns over the production.

Despite a replacement director being brought in, the movie was ultimately cancelled at a huge cost to Disney, who has already spent more than half of the film’s $28million (£21million) budget.

This 2005 sci-fi comedy film was set to star Jim Carrey, Ben Stiller and Reese Witherspoon with a story set in the future where women rule the world and men are sold like used cars. However, the film was cancelled due to an escalating budget. It was revived in 2009 with Danny McBride and Emily Mortimer joining the cast, before getting cancelled again. Now so much time has passed it is unlikely to ever be made.

The long-awaited Absolutely Fabulous movie was a big success when it finally hit screens in 2016, so much so that fans hoped for a sequel. But the comedy’s star and creator Jennifer Saunders ruled it out that same year, telling the Daily Mail: “I’m not doing anything more with Ab Fab. That. Is. It.”

Sharing more about the reasoning behind her decision, Jennifer added: “It just takes so long. There’s lots of other stuff I’d like to do. Besides, I’d like to spend time with my grandchildren.”