it has now become the highest-grossing movie of 2022. The movie's success is mostly thanks to director Sam Raimi's unique vision and original horror-comedy approach.
Raimi has a storied career that's stronger than ever after close to 40 years, but there are other universes out there where his career trajectory was a lot different. The filmmaker has been attached to countless projects over the years, whether it's a small budget drama or a blockbuster DC movie, and Redditors think they would have turned out great under his direction.
Love May Fail
DHLG_321 wants to see Raimi's Love May Fail, which would have been a completely different movie from his typical projects and one that fans would be least suspecting of him directing. The project is an adaptation of a novel of the same name, and it follows an aspiring feminist who is in search of her old English teacher. According to Deadline, Raimi was in talks to direct it in 2014.
The Redditor wants to see the movie exactly because it isn't Raimi's typical adventure, explaining, "I thought A Simple Plan was terrific and it'd be interesting to see Raimi go outside his usual wheelhouse again." Raimi might be a horror elder statesman, but the 90s saw him making sports movies, westerns, and films of all sorts of other genres.
Batman Forever
So many other directors have been attached to Batman man in the past, whether it's the Wachowskis or Darren Aronofsky. And though he wasn't on Warner Bros.' long list of director options, before Joel Schumacher came on board, according to Batman Forever."
Given that Raimi managed to include some of his signature horror trademarks Doctor Strange 2 while still keeping it PG-13, he could have done spectacular things with Batman Forever. However, Schumacher did direct some dark sequences of his own, as there are some Batman Returns, was criticized for being too dark for younger audiences.
Bermuda
In 2017, Raimi had picked up something more along the lines of what he's used to. According to Coming Soon, the director was attached to a thriller movie about the Bermuda Triangle, and it's easy to imagine Raimi-style jump scares in the Bermuda fog. QLE814 wanted to see the movie more than anybody else, and they even fan-cast the unmade movie, arguing that it should star "Bruce Campbell as an increasingly frustrated sea captain."
Sam Raimi since left the project and it'll now be directed by Scott Derrickson under the name Bermuda. Ironically, Derrickson directed the first Doctor Strange movie, so it's almost like the two filmmakers straight-up traded projects. According to Variety, the movie is coming along well, and Chris Evans is circling the lead role.
Spider-Man 4
Raimi had plans for a fourth movie with Mysterio as the villain. Unfortunately, it never came to fruition, but Happypappy213 thinks Spider-Man 4 with Raimi behind the camera is still possible.
The Redditor posits, "I think it should be a more personal film about getting older and figuring out where your priorities lie as a superhero but also as a person." Spider-Man: No Way Home, the idea of a fourquel is back in the conversation over at Sony.
The Kingkiller Chronicle
Before Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Raimi hadn't actually made a film in nine years, as his last directorial effort was 2013's Oz: The Great and Powerful. Why he was so quiet for so long is a mystery, but it could simply be that he's massively indecisive.
Along with Bermuda and so many other projects, Variety reports that Raimi was attached to direct the first movie in the Kingkiller Chronicle series in the mid-2010s. Bennx42 wanted to see the adaptation of the fantasy series more than anyone else, noting, "It would have been nice to have a good showrunner for that."
The Hobbit
Though the first movie in the trilogy, Lord of the Rings trilogy made billions.
Guillermo del Toro also directed the movie too.
Evil Dead 4
Just like with Spider-Man 4, Evil Dead 4 has been on fans' minds for decades. And it seems as if Raimi has always wanted to make it too. According to Cinema Blend, Raimi had planned to direct the fourth installment after wrapping up Spider-Man 3. Outside-Fix-1881 notes, "I would love to see another with Bruce Campbell."
However, even though there's enough Evil Dead in Doctor Strange 2, at least.
Warcraft
Being yet another project that Raimi ended up ing down to another filmmaker, the Evil Dead director was once attached to Warcraft. According to Destructoid, Raimi had a script finished that was completely original, but game developer Blizzard didn't like it, and that's when the filmmaker left the project.
Thor
Thor movie decades before Marvel Studios did. The Redditor notes, "Raimi pitched a Thor movie to 20th Century Fox alongside Stan Lee. Fox didn't understand Raimi and Lee's idea and the project was abandoned." According to Variety, the studio thought it was going to be something like Hercules.
It's hilarious imagining a studio turning down not just Raimi but Lee, and that would have never happened in the 2000s and 2010s. While 20th Century Fox turned the project down, Marvel Studios turned it into a multi-billion-dollar series a couple of decades later.
