In 2021, James Gunn revealed that Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind writer Charlie Kaufman once pitched a dark movie adaptation of the classic 1960s sitcom Gilligan’s Island. In his version, the castaways, starving to death and desperate to survive, would eventually resort to killing and eating one another. As wild as the idea sounds, in the late ’90s, Warner Bros. was interested in making it. There was just one problem: Original series creator Sherwood Schwartz objected to Kaufman turning his beloved characters into cannibals.
Skipping ahead to 2014, Gunn was looking for a new project following the massive success of Guardians of the Galaxy. Schwartz was no longer around to stand in the way, so Gunn attempted to resurrect Kaufman’s idea, with the intention of directing the film himself. Kaufman was still down to do it, and Warners hadn’t lost interest, but it once again got shot down, this time by Schwartz’s estate. “Anyway, if the Schwartz estate changes their mind, I’m here,” Gunn tweeted at the time.
You’d think that would be the end of the road for the proposed movie, but the story generated so much buzz that Schwartz’s family caught wind of it and apparently changed their tune. As Gunn explained in a Threads post from late last year, “The Schwartz estate contacted me and told me they’d be happy to let me do it.” Unfortunately, he was already busy with other things by the time they reached out to him. That, of course, doesn’t completely rule it out as a future possibility, but with Gunn having three upcoming movies and a TV series slated for this year alone, it’s not looking like he’d be getting to Gilligan’s Island any time soon.
The original Gilligan’s Island ran for three seasons on CBS between 1964 and 1967. Three TV movies followed in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, with most of the original cast members returning. Talk of a big screen adaptation (sans cannibalism) persisted for many years after that, with Jim Carrey reportedly eyeing the role of Gilligan. Shortly before his death, Schwartz told TV Guide he’d love to see a version with Michael Cera as Gilligan and Beyoncé as Ginger. “There isn’t anybody sexier than Beyoncé!” he said in 2008.
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