Development Hell
By Those Development Boys
Development HellSep 11, 2020
The First Annual Dev Hell Awards
It's THE DEVVIES!! This week, we look back on 2023 as a year of coulda's, woulda's, and shoulda's in movies, music, games, movies... Who will win, but more over, who already lost??
The XFL
If you're going through the first week of football withdrawals, you're exactly who Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol were looking to please with the ill-fated XFL. Listen in to learn about this absolute car crash of athletes, executives, and blimps - yes, blimps.
Mtn Dew Game_Jam (Failed Pilot)
This episode is chock full of fun times and MTN DEW ACTION RANCH! We dive headfirst into the baja of the Mtn Dew Game Jam, a failed reality TV Pilot, Spike's secret addiction and Richard's ideal action ranch.
Follow us on IG: @devhellpodcast
Spider-Man Lotus (and Fan-Films!)
Today Richard brings Spider-Man Lotus to the alter, the highly controversial fan-film made by a highly controversial filmmaker. We also examine fan fims at large and their place in the current IP driven media landscape.
Follow us on instagram @devhellpodcast @kyleandersoncomedy @hgspike and @richiehumps
Active Development Roundup - What's Kraken Lackin'?
This episode we catch up with a wild summer of movies, the strike, and of course Krakens.
Bob's Game
Troy Duffy, step aside, as we go on the journey of "bob's game" and its sole developer, Robert Pelloni. Release date delays, delusional egos, and Spike needing things explained to him. Yet another classic video game episode.
As a side note, buried in this episode description, written late at night: If you want to make something, do what you can to make it with friends, because doing things - big, small, dumb, serious, games, movies, music, podcasts - together, with whoever, and being nice about it, f#king rules.
Science Fiction Land
Obsessive nerds, corrupt investors, Jack Kirby, and, of course, a 300-foot building with 1000 bowling lanes in it. Science Fiction Land could've had it all, but instead it crumbled, ruining (and literally saving!) lives along the way.
Justice League: Mortal
Our first repeat Development Hell director appears in the form of George Miller and his ill-fated 2009 attempt at "Justice League: Mortal". Richard takes us through the leaked script, the bonkers cast, and tries to get Kyle and Spike to calm down about "car jar".
The Fantastic Four (1994)
We're kicking off 2023 with a series of unfinished and unreleased projects, starting with Roger Corman's "The Fantastic Four". Never seen it? That's on purpose.
Little Italy
"Little Italy" is a nightmare, but watching it 8 times in a day? A dream! Joined by "Cabin Boys" Mitch Holleman, JP Noda, and Jacob Borja, we dive into not just the horrifying 2018 film, but also why we'll unfortunately never forget a frame of it. TOPICS INCLUDE: favorite pizzas, prison reform, and Minions!!
John Carter (of Mars)
The Jeddak of Zodanga means to quash Helium this very night, and if Helium falls, so does Barsoom. In today's episode we examine one of the oldest IPs we've looked at John Carter of Mars, and think about why it had such a bland 2012 adaptation. By Issus, this episode is a ton of fun! We ride for Zodanga!
Las Pegasus Unicon
Today we dive deep into the worst Brony convention of all time, las pegasus unicon, held in Las Vegas at the Riviera Casino! This episode is a wild ride, so get ready.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
The Dark Tower
In this episode of Development Hell we take a look at the big screen adaptation of the Stephen King dark-science-fantasy-horror-western The Dark Tower.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
Kingdom Hearts
Today Richard takes us through a development hell for the fans, as we take a trip through the Square Enix and Disney collab known as Kingdom Hearts.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
The Emperor's New Groove
Today we unpack the 2000 animated comedy The Emperor's New Groove, and the behind the scenes documentary about the production slog, The Sweat Box. From Sting to Goodman, this one is a hoot.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
Mad Max: Fury Road
Today we finish our "go-fast" themed month, with George MIller's masterpiece, Mad Max: Fury Road. A testament to world-building, action and detail, the world of Mad Max is an incredible achievement, and we examine the long dusty road to its development.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
Speed Racer
Speed: Racing hasn't changed, and it never will.
Racer X : It doesn't matter if racing never changes. What matters is if we let racing change us.
Think about that quote, but instead of racing it's about a podcast being on hiatus.
WELL NOT ANYMORE! For the next ten weeks we'll be bringing you SEASON 2 of Development Hell!
Today we start off hot with a Richard pick, and a great one at that! Speed Racer, we cover the cartoon origins, all the way to the major feature film.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
Redline
Today we cover the anime film from 2009, Redline. One of Madhouse's last efforts as an original IP feature, Redline contains over 140,000 frames of hand drawn animation, with no CGI being used. With a long, yet rewarding production cycle, Redline is an incredible achievement, yet wasn;t a financial success.
Today we race into the development hell behind, Redline.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is a 2018 adventure-comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam -- we explore the long and winding road this film took to completion.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
Active Development Omnibus
Today the boys take a week off the research (sorta) and bring some fun stories of movies currently going through interesting development. A cool round up of some more topical film news stories. Hope you enjoy, and we'll be back to the normal format next week.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
The Mummy & "The Dark Universe"
Today we break down Universal's failed attempt at "The Dark Universe" with the Tom Cruise lead The Mummy from 2017. Initially intended to kickstart Dark Universe, an attempt to create a modern cinematic universe based on the classic Universal Monsters film series, the film's poor box office performance led to the discontinuation and cancelation of the Dark Universe
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
Jan De Bont's Godzilla
Today we cover the never-produced Tristar 1994 attempt at a Godzilla movie. While a much closer adaptation than what we eventually got with the Emmerich version, the film's production would be marred with massive technical hurdles and Son'y executives out to morph the project into something it was never meant to be.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
Toho's Godzilla Films (1954-1995)
From his 1954 debut, to facing the mighty Desotroyah in 1995, we cover the Godzilla films produced by Japan's Toho FIlm Studios up until the release of the 1998 american Godzilla film. Spike also falls in love with Godzilla.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures, videos, and episode sources! Plus chat with us!
Foodfight!
Spike continues our monster themed month with this monstrous pile of shit, "Foodfight!"
With over 5 years in development hell, this is literally a movie created on the idea of using product placement as characters, Foodfight! sets the bar for horrible CGI garbage movie. Strap in, this one is fun.
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures and videos we talk about and chat with us!
King Kong
Twas beauty, killed the beast. This week we talk Peter Jackson's King Kong, as he comes hot off the heels of making Lord of the Rings and gets his passion project, King Kong, greenlit. A rare case of almost a development heaven on this show. How lovely!
As always follow us on IG, @devhellpodcast
and join our discord: https://discord.gg/VgYggPWMbz for cool pictures and videos we talk about and chat with us!
LA Noire
Today we cover Rockstar's and Team Bondi's LA Noire, the 1940s detective cinematic game notorious for its facial capture tech and it's 7 year development cycle.
Chinese Democracy
Today Spike brings Guns N' Roses' long awaited album Chinese Democracy to the development hell alter. We learn all about Axl, Slash and of course -- BucketHead's Chicken Coop.
Popeye
Today Richard opens a can of spinach in the form of Robert Altman's 1980 Popeye live action musical. This film is a trippy fever dream, and works as an incredible adaptation of animation.
Minecraft: The Movie
Today we have a SUPER fun episode where we cover the rise from Minecraft growing from a one man operation to one of the biggest games in the world. We then dive into the development hell around trying to finally get the Minecraft movie off the ground, and the various teams that have tried and failed.
Blade Runner Pt. 2
(sorry about the couple audio glitches, a few minutes into the episode it sounds great! We promise!)
Today the boys finish up the Bladerunner story, along with discussing the shark issue.
Blade Runner Pt. 1
Today we take on Blade Runner, a project with too much development hell to contain in a single podcast! Let's dive into Ridley Scott's cyberpunk epic and learn why god is a shark in a fish tank.
Gangs of New York (w/ Jacob Borja)
This week we dive into the nerdiest movie Directed by Martin Scorsese, Gangs of New York -- and the development hell that comes along with Daniel Day-Lewis.
(this episode is super fun, but has some slight audio issues because of the website we use to record, we apologize and future episodes will be much more clear)
Speed & Speed 2: Cruise Control
POP QUIZ HOT SHOT. Today those development boys tackle 2 movies (for the price of one!) as we don't let the audio-level drop below screamingly loud or the podcast explodes. We cover the development hell that lead to Speed, one of the the most iconic action movies of all time, to get maybe the most forgettable sequel of all time.
The Boondock Saints
Hey brother -- this week the boys talks about The Boondock Saints and the descent into madness of Troy Duffy.
Dungeons and Dragons: The Movie
What an awful movie! Wow! Dungeons and Dragons from 2000 is a prime example of why high-fantasy was a genre plagued with development hell.
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
The gang swings into Broadway for the first time to cover the biggest flop in musical history, Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark! We also touch on the never-produced James Cameron Spider-Man film, and have a ton of fun!
Apocalypse Now
The boys talk about maybe the most hellish and agonizing production of all time -- Apocalypse Now. Enjoy!
Battlefield Earth
We dive deep into the sever dream that was Battlefield Earth, John Travolta's passion project he made for L. Ron Hubbard.
Deadpool
Guess what? We know we're in a podcast. We're covering the merc with a mouth's first journey to the silver screen. Deadpool was Ryan Reynold's passion project, and we follow the it from 2004-2016.
Alien vs Predator
The boys face off against 2004's Alien vs Predator. Spoiler: this movie fucks and we enjoyed it.
Bill & Ted Face The Music
In our first episode we remember to be excellent to each other -- and to party on dudes, as we examine the long road Bill and Ted took to their 3rd Adventure.