Dino
Potential Cast: Tom Hanks, John Travolta, Hugh Grant, Adam Sandler, and Jim Carrey

Amidst the 1990's swing of nostalgia for the retro cool of the 1950s, Warner Bros. commissioned a script from Casino screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi about the life of Dean Martin, which would reunite Pileggi with Casino director Martin Scorsese. A planned cast of Tom Hanks as Martin, John Travolta as Frank Sinatra, Hugh Grant as Peter Lawford, Adam Sandler as Joey Bishop, and Jim Carrey as Jerry Lewis was lined up for Scorsese's first biopic since 1981's Raging Bull. But Dino suffered a kick to the head when Warner Bros. allowed Scorsese a window to direct Gangs of New York for Miramax. Its long and expensive shoot led to the Rat Pack pic being shown the door.

Project Status: Scorsese would fulfill his commitment to Warner Bros. in 2003 by making The Aviator, a biopic about Howard Hughes, but Dino remains on the shelf.

NEXT: The Dreyfus Affair, a story of gay baseball players