The following is a list of unproduced Sam Raimi projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director and producer Sam Raimi has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects, are officially cancelled and scrapped or fell in development hell.
As director
Thor
In 1990, after finishing with the filming of Darkman, Raimi pitched, along with Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee, the concept of a Thor feature film to 20th Century Fox. However, they didn't understand Raimi's and Lee's idea and the project was abandoned. A film based on the Thor property was released years later in 2011 and directed by Kenneth Branagh, as the fourth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe under Paramount Pictures.
Jack Frost
In 1994, Sam Raimi was attached to direct Jack Frost, then under the working title of Frosty the Snowman. He and his brother Ivan Raimi had performed a rewrite on the screenplay written by Mark Steven Johnson, but after George Clooney dropped out of the film, Raimi would leave a couple months later. Troy Miller would eventually replace him.
The Wee Free Men
In January 2006, Sam Raimi was set to direct The Wee Free Men based on the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett, but in December 2009 Pratchett said that he had "got the rights to the book back" after reading the proposed screenplay.
The Hobbit
On April 18, 2007, Raimi stated that he was open to direct the long time planned The Hobbit film adaptation that was already planned since 1995. However, it was finally decided to divide the book in three films and on April 24, 2008, Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro was selected to direct the film and Peter Jackson was selected to produce it. The films were finally released in 2012, 2013, and 2014 directed by Jackson and written by del Toro.
Evil Dead 4
On May 3, 2007, Raimi announced that after completing Spider-Man 3 he along his brother Ivan would work on Evil Dead 4, a sequel to Raimi's Army of Darkness and the fourth installment in the Evil Dead film series. On July 26, 2008, Raimi stated that Ivan was writing a script for Evil Dead 4. On March 26, 2009, Raimi stayed that Ivan had finished the Evil Dead 4 script. In a 2011 Reddit post, Bruce Campbell remarked that Oz the Great and Powerful was keeping Raimi occupied. The franchise was later rebooted in 2013 with Fede Álvarez as director. Plans for a fourth "Evil Dead" movie eventually evolved into the television series Ash Vs. Evil Dead, which served as a sequel to Army of Darkness and a conclusion to the character of Ash Williams.
Spider-Man 4
Around 2007, after the release of Spider-Man 3, it was announced that Spider-Man 4 was in development and that Raimi would direct it, while Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and the other members of the cast were attached to reprise their roles. Also, it was announced that the fourth Spider-Man film was to be shot back-to-back with Spider-Man 5, while Spider-Man 6 was also in development, but Raimi finally decided to only shoot Spider-Man 4 at that moment. James Vanderbilt was to write the film and its two planned sequels; although David Koepp was also considered to write it. Also, on December 8, 2009, it was reported John Malkovich was slated to portray the Vulture while Anne Hathaway was slated to portray Black Cat. Bruce Campbell was planned to have another cameo appearance, potentially as Mysterio. However, on January 11, 2010, it was officially reported that Sony Pictures had cancelled the production of Spider-Man 4 after Raimi concluded that he was not going to be able to release the film in time with a not so exciting script. The franchise was later rebooted in 2012 with Marc Webb as director.
Jack Ryan film series
In March 2008, Paramount Pictures were in talks with Sam Raimi to direct a new Jack Ryan franchise. Paramount chose Kenneth Branagh for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.
The Given Day
On June 16, 2008, it was reported that Raimi would develop and direct an adaptation of the Dennis Lehane book The Given Day for Columbia Pictures. No further development has been made since then.
World of Warcraft
On July 22, 2009, Blizzard Entertainment reported that Raimi was hired to direct a film adaptation of its popular video game Warcraft entitled World of Warcraft. However, on July 13, 2012, it was announced that Raimi would not direct the Warcraft film because he was working on Oz the Great and Powerful and he needed to finish its post-production. The film was finally released in 2016 as Warcraft and directed by Duncan Jones.