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Definition: The status of a project when a studio decides not to develop it further and offers it to other studios to recoup development costs. History: Until 1948, major studios owned the theaters that screened their movies. Those wanting to see a film at their local Bijou had to eat it when turkeys came to town. Then the Supreme Court decision U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures forced studios to divest their interests in theaters. With new theater owners came the expression “. . . opened at $ . . .” which initially meant box office during a film’s opening week, then became box office during the first Friday thru Sunday, and today is becoming box office opening day. A film that opens at a disappointing number won’t be at the Bijou—or even the local multiplex—for long. This imperative for immediate box office success made moviemaking far riskier. Today only one of ten projects that go into development are greenlit for production. Projects that languish in development for months and even years are said to be in development hell. To be put in turnaround is a reprieve from this damnation. A common cause for turnaround is that a project no longer fits the studio’s commercial vision. For instance, “E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) began as “Night Skies,” a science fiction horror story about a family terrorized by gremlin-like aliens. When Steven Spielberg increasingly reworked the plot to focus on the one benevolent alien among the invaders, Columbia put the project in turnaround not wanting to make a sweetness-and-light Disney-like movie. By contrast, 15 years later Disney would put David Mamet’s “The Diary of Anne Frank” in turnaround fearing Mamet’s screenplay, which transformed Anne into a modern Israeli dodging suicide bombers, was too dark for the studio’s image. Problems with the script is the standard reason studios give for turning around a project. Often these “problems” amount to the project not attracting the director and/or actors the studio wants. For instance, after approaching Paramount and 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers took the musical “Jersey Boys” out of turnaround when Clint Eastwood was recruited to direct the film. Conversely, John Woo, the heroic bloodshed action pioneer who was Mamet’s choice to direct “The Diary of Anne Frank,” spooked Disney. Projects that never found a buyer are many, but for studio execs, a sale can prove a worse nightmare. Columbia Pictures, for instance, cut a deal with Universal Pictures in which it received $1 million in development costs for “E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial” plus 5% of the movie’s net profit. True, the deal earned Columbia more than any Columbia release that year. The bad news was Columbia sold the rights to a movie that took $10.5 million to make and grossed about $793 million worldwide.Then too, "E.T." is among the most popular classic films presented by television and streaming networks today. Related Terms: master scene script development hell production value script doctor 
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