During his long career, American film director Martin Scorsese has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled.

1960s Untitled Jesus in New York film Scorsese said that in the early 1960s, while he was still trying to make his first feature, he had considered making a film of the gospel, but set on the Lower East Side in the tenements of contemporary Manhattan. The film was to have been shot in black-and-white with the Jesus crucifixion filmed on the West Side docks, but after Scorsese saw Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew, he decided to abandon the project.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem Scorsese originally intended for Who's That Knocking at My Door and Mean Streets to be the second and third installments in a planned "spiritual trilogy" of films that dealt with themes of crime and Catholic guilt. The first, titled Jerusalem, Jerusalem, would have starred Harvey Keitel in the role of J.R. and was centered around a seminary retreat.

The Honeymoon Killers

Scorsese was originally hired to direct The Honeymoon Killers as his second film in 1969, when it was under the working title Dear Martha, but he was fired by the film's producer early into the shoot for working too slowly. Only a few scenes he directed remain in the finished film. According to Scorsese, he attempted to craft a film in the vein of Carl Theodor Dreyer. "Instead of just making the film, I was trying to make a reputation. And I twisted and turned it in different ways stylistically. I tried to make it something it shouldn't have been," he conceded, "I was fired from that after one week, and rightly so."

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? In 1969, Scorsese and screenwriter Jay Cocks approached author Philip K. Dick about adapting his dystopian sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to film. Though the two never got around to optioning the rights, Dick's novel was eventually made as the film Blade Runner, in 1982.

Untitled war film Scorsese also started work on a war film in 1969, and later stated that it "was supposed to end with the opening speech from Patton". Oliver Wood was going to be the cinematographer and it was going to be shot using 16 mm film, except for an erotic flashback using 35 mm film, using the color palette of a 1940s film. He had to wait until after Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore to begin production, but it was cancelled two days before filming was set to begin due to financial problems.

1970s Serpico

Scorsese almost directed Al Pacino in 1973's Serpico.

The Godfather Part II

Francis Ford Coppola first met with Scorsese about directing The Godfather sequel, impressed with his talent and not wanting to do it himself at the time. Despite campaigning to have Scorsese hired, the executives at Paramount Pictures refused to have someone other than Coppola. Scorsese later admitted that he would not have been the right choice to direct the film anyways: "I would've made something interesting, but [Coppola's] maturity was already there. I still had this kind of edgy thing, the wild kid running around."

The Yakuza

Scorsese had read the script for, and sought to direct The Yakuza, though he was not the person that screenwriter Paul Schrader had wanted. Instead, Sydney Pollack was chosen.

Notes from Underground Scorsese was considering adapting several Fyodor Dostoevsky novels, in particularly Notes from Underground before he was offered Taxi Driver by Paul Schrader. Since the story and themes in Taxi Driver were heavily influenced by Notes from Underground, he didn't feel the need to repeat himself by making a similar film.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee After the release of Taxi Driver, Scorsese was approached by actor Marlon Brando with the proposition of directing a film dramatization of the non-fiction book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, about the infamous Lakota Indian massacre. The adaptation never materialized.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Haunted Summer Scorsese nearly directed a film of Anne Edwards' novel Haunted Summer, about the creation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the summer she spent with poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron. He ultimately opted to do New York, New York instead.

Night Life In 1978, Scorsese began working on a new script with Jay Cocks titled Night Life, which dealt with "a fraternal rivalry". However, he withdrew from the project as some of the ideas for Night Life were incorporated into Raging Bull and he was hired to direct The King of Comedy.

In Dreams Begin Responsibilities In the late 1970s, Scorsese and Robert De Niro wanted to make a feature film out of a short story called "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" by Delmore Schwartz, and had worked on a script briefly before switching gears to Raging Bull. Later, Scorsese toyed with the notion of adapting the story for his short film segment of New York Stories.

1980s Untitled Doors biopic Sometime in the early 1980s, Scorsese became interested in developing and directing a film biopic centered on the Jim Morrison story, and of his band The Doors. Other directors who actively pursued this project around the same time included the likes of William Friedkin and Francis Ford Coppola, before Oliver Stone made the eventual 1991 biopic.

Scarface remake A remake of 1932's Scarface was pursued by Scorsese and Robert De Niro as a possible director/star collaboration between them. However, Al Pacino and producer Martin Bregman were simultaneously developing their version. When De Niro found out, he cautioned Pacino to attach a director to their project or else he would play the role first.

Mafioso remake According to Robert De Niro, he and Scorsese once mooted collaborating as star and director, respectively, on a remake of the 1962 Italian comedy Mafioso; before other projects took first priority.

Little Shop of Horrors

In 1983, producer David Geffen was initially going to team with Steven Spielberg and Scorsese for the film adaptation of the off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors, to be shot in 3-D. With Scorsese at the helm and Spielberg as an executive producer, plans for this version ultimately fell through when a lawsuit was filed by the original film's screenwriter and actor, Charles B. Griffith.

Beverly Hills Cop

Scorsese admitted he turned down the offer to direct Beverly Hills Cop.

Witness

Scorsese also turned down the offer to direct Witness.

Gershwin In 1984, Paul Schrader wrote a screenplay for a George Gershwin biopic for Scorsese to direct. In August 1993, it was reported that Scorsese was to direct a Gershwin film, with Robert De Niro and Richard Dreyfuss attached to star and the screenplay written by John Guare.

The Bad and the Beautiful remake After development of Gershwin fell through, Scorsese and Paul Schrader began pursuing concepts for a potential remake of the 1952 film The Bad and the Beautiful, with Robert De Niro starring in the Kirk Douglas role. "It would be about our three lives: writer, director and actor," Schrader said, "So I did an outline and met [Scorsese and De Niro] both and it turned out to be very acrimonious." Schrader ultimately opted not to move forward as writer on the project following a screenwriting credit dispute with Scorsese. Scorsese, De Niro and screenwriter Eric Roth later considered an iteration of this idea to be realized in the form of a spinoff to The Irishman, but decided against it. The concept included incorporating unused footage and behind-the-scenes pieces from The Irishman.

Night and the City remake In 1985, novelist Richard Price wrote a script for Scorsese based on the 1950 film noir Night and the City, which fellow filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier insisted he could do a great remake of. However, Scorsese was ultimately not interested in doing remakes at the time and decided to instead do The Color of Money, using Price as the writer.

LaBrava Though Dustin Hoffman was hesitant to star in the role, he had suggested Scorsese to direct an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel LaBrava for producer Walter Mirisch. At the end of 1985, when Hoffman finally committed to the role of ex-Secret Service agent Joe LaBrava, the film landed at the independent Cannon Films, after being rejected by Fox, Disney and Geffen. Despite securing funding, Scorsese balked at the prospect of making a film for a company he didn't know and decided to bail. For his part, Hoffman later said that Mirisch had set up the Cannon deal without his knowledge. LaBrava was eventually scrapped, after failure to find an available replacement director.

Untitled Amedeo Modigliani biopic

In the late 1970s, actor Al Pacino commissioned Richard Price to write a screenplay based on Modigliani: A Play in Three Acts, about the tragic life of 20th-century painter Amedeo Modigliani. Pacino showed the script to various directors, with the intention being for Pacino to star as the painter. In the late 1980s, Scorsese read the screenplay and loved it, and agreed to direct, telling Empire magazine in 2019: "It was about the extraordinary struggle to create art. The sadness of it, the absinthe [...] It really would have been something special, I think." Pacino and Scorsese shopped the project around studios, but faced constant rejection.

The Sicilian

Scorsese was one of the directors who turned down the offer to direct Steve Shagan's adaptation of The Sicilian. The film would eventually be rewritten and directed by Michael Cimino.

Dick Tracy

Scorsese was approached to direct Dick Tracy before Warren Beatty wound up directing the film.

Schindler's List

In 1988, Steven Spielberg offered Scorsese the opportunity to direct Schindler's List, believing that he wasn't mature enough as a filmmaker to tackle the story. Scorsese developed it with screenwriter Steven Zaillian, but felt that Spielberg would be better to tell the story, as he was Jewish, and was still facing backlash for The Last Temptation of Christ. Spielberg similarly wanted to work on the film again, so he arranged for Scorsese to direct Cape Fear, which he had been developing, while Spielberg would return to Schindler's List.

Robbie Robertson and Friends documentary In 1989, musician Robbie Robertson and Scorsese announced they were planning a sequel of sorts to The Last Waltz called Robbie Robertson and Friends. The project was initially going to be televised concert in collaboration with Peter Gabriel and U2, who were both unavailable at the time. Instead, Robertson expanded it into a theatrical film, explaining that it would be "a combination of The Red Shoes and All That Jazz, only dealing with music instead of dance."

1990s Love in Vain In 1990, Scorsese signed on to direct a screenplay for Warner Bros. based on Alan Greenberg's biography Love in Vain, about the life of blues musician Robert Johnson. The film never came to fruition because it would have taken years to make.

Theodora Around 1990, following the critical and commercial success of Goodfellas, Scorsese pursued a film epic about Theodora's relationship with emperor Justinian I, and the founding of the Byzantine Empire. Novelist Gore Vidal was set up at Universal Pictures to write the script for Theodora, but the project never materialized. "Marty says that seven years is about right to get a picture made nowadays," said Vidal in 1994. "We're waiting on new technology, to show battle scenes without Ben-Hur prices."

Dirty Boulevard Sometime in the early 1990s, Scorsese attempted to make a film based on the Lou Reed song "Dirty Blvd.", from his 1989 album New York. Playwright Reinaldo Povod wrote the screenplay, and had died shortly after its completion.

Dino