Kenneth Branagh's unrealized projects

The following is a list of unproduced Kenneth Branagh projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, British filmmaker Kenneth Branagh has worked on several projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially canceled, were in development limbo or would see life under a different production team.

On December 21, 1998, Branagh was set to star in and direct The Betty Schimmel Story, a biopic about Robert Schimmel’s parents survival during the Holocaust, with Ivan Fila and Greg Poirier writing the screenplay, Wendy Finerman and Agi Orsi producing the film, and DreamWorks Pictures set to distribute the movie, but never materalized.^[1]

In the 1990’s, Branagh considered directing the film adaptation of Theodore Roszak’s novel Flicker.^[2]

On March 3, 2011, Branagh was set to direct the feature film adaptation of Daniel James Brown’s biographical novel The Boys in the Boat, with Donna Gigliotti producing and Jody Hofflund executive producing the film for The Weinstein Company.^[3] George Clooney would ultimately direct the project instead for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.^[4]

On August 4, 2011, Branagh was set to direct the feature film adaptation of Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer’s novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for Fox 2000, with Dan Roos writing the screenplay and Paula Mazur and Mitchell Kaplan producing the film.^[5] The film was ultimately directed by Mike Newell for Netflix.^[6]

On October 19, 2011, Branagh was set to direct the feature film adaptation of Henning Mankell’s novel Italian Shoes, with Richard Cottan writing the screenplay, Yellow Bird and Left Bank Pictures producing the film,^[7] and on November 27, 2011, Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench were cast in the film, with production expected to start in late 2012 or early 2013.^[8] On May 21, 2022, the film adaptation was revived with Julie Bertuccelli set to direct for Roger Frappier's Max Films.^[9]

On May 12, 2017, Branagh was in talks to direct Sam Franco and Evan Kilgore’s screenplay Keeper of the Diary, as well as star as Anne Frank’s father Otto Frank and produce with Judy Hofflund, for Searchlight Pictures to distribute.^[10]

On April 3, 2018, Branagh was set to star in and produce the television series adaptation of Amor Towles’ novel A Gentleman in Moscow, which became the miniseries of the same name by Paramount+ with Showtime.^[11]

On March 10, 2021, Branagh was set to direct a biopic about the Bee Gees for Paramount Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, with Ben Elton writing the screenplay and Barry Gibb serving as executive producer.^[12] On March 30, 2022, it was announced that Branagh had departed the project due to scheduling conflicts with the awards campaign for Belfast, and that John Carney was now set to direct with John Logan writing the screenplay; on December 8, it was announced that Carney had also departed the project due to scheduling conflicts, with Lorene Scafaria set to take over as director.^[13][14] On February 15, 2024, it was announced that Ridley Scott was now in talks to direct the project.^[15]

On July 22, 2002, Branagh was offered to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as well as the sequels, for Warner Bros. Pictures, but turned it down; Branagh had previously portrayed Professor Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.^[16]

On September 22, 2011, Branagh was offered to direct Thor 2 for Marvel Studios, but turned it down; the film would eventually be directed by Alan Taylor.^[17]

• Kenneth Branagh at IMDb