James Gunn Says His Lost Gilligan’s Island Horror Reboot Isn’t Dead Yet
James Gunn just dropped fresh details on his lost Gilligan’s Island horror reboot—a twisted castaway nightmare sparked by a celebrated screenwriter’s idea—offering a tantalizing glimpse at the bold remake that never made shore.
File this under: the Gilligan reboot that almost turned into a nightmare. James Gunn just added a new chapter to the long, weird saga of his unmade Gilligan's Island horror take. And yes, the pitch involved cannibals. Stay with me.
The pitch: Gilligan, but make it cannibal
Back in the 90s, Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine) cooked up a Gilligan's Island movie where the stranded crew stops playing nice and starts eating each other. Warner Bros. was into it. Sherwood Schwartz, the guy who created the original sitcom, was not. He shut it down.
Gunn tried to revive it after Guardians
Years later, after Guardians of the Galaxy hit big, Gunn tried to get the idea moving again. That got the studio's attention, and Kaufman was interested too. But the Schwartz estate said no that time as well.
New wrinkle: the estate later changed its tune
Gunn just posted on Threads that the Schwartz estate actually reached out to him after he told this story online in 2021. They were open to letting him make it. By then, he was deep into other work — he is co-running DC Studios and directing Superman — so he didn't pursue it.
'In all fairness, after I posted about the history of this project (the posts referred to in this article), the Schwartz estate contacted me and told me they'd be happy to let me do it... but by that time I was occupied with other things.'
'But, yeah, this is all accurate.'
He also attached a CBR piece about the pitch for context.
About that 2021 post
This all popped back up because Gunn originally shared the saga during the 'Pitch a movie with two pictures, no captions' meme on Twitter (now X) in 2021. That's when he laid out Kaufman's 90s cannibal concept and the early studio interest before Schwartz nixed it.
So, is it dead?
Not necessarily. The estate later saying 'yes' at least once means it's not impossible. But Gunn has a crowded calendar. If this ever happens, it won't be soon.
Quick timeline
- 1964–1967: The original Gilligan's Island airs on CBS, becomes a pop-culture staple, and eventually spawns several made-for-TV movies.
- 1990s: Charlie Kaufman pitches a dark, cannibal twist on the story. Warner Bros. shows interest; Sherwood Schwartz rejects it.
- Post-Guardians of the Galaxy: Gunn revisits the idea. The studio and Kaufman are into it; the Schwartz estate turns it down.
- 2021: Gunn shares the history on Twitter as part of a meme.
- Recently: On Threads, Gunn says the Schwartz estate reached out after those posts and was open to the reboot, but he was already tied up. He adds 'But, yeah, this is all accurate' and notes he included a CBR article about the pitch.