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Curated category

Saturn Award–winning films

  • Psycho (1960 film)Alfred Hitchcock acquired the rights to Robert Bloch's 1959 novel for $9,500 in 1960. He faced a studio system that refused his usual budget and rejected his…
  • Avengers: EndgameIn October 2014, Marvel Studios announced a two-part sequel to Avengers: Age of Ultron. The plan was to film both parts back-to-back under the working title…
  • Avengers: Infinity WarIn October 2014, Marvel Studios announced a two-part sequel to Avengers: Age of Ultron. The project carried the working title Avengers: Infinity War , Part 1.
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)Walt Disney stood before his staff on the evening of the 30th of October 1934, and acted out an entire story for three hours.
  • Aliens (film)Aliens, the 1986 science fiction-action film written and directed by James Cameron, opens with a woman who has been asleep for 57 years.
  • Alien (film)Dan O'Bannon sat on Ronald Shusett's couch in Los Angeles during the early 1970s, broke and homeless after a failed project.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingIn the Second Age of Middle-earth, the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring in Mount Doom. This single act imbues the object with power to control other…
  • Blade RunnerPhilip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? sat on a shelf for years before anyone could make it into a movie.
  • Star Wars (film)George Lucas conceived a space opera in 1971, shortly after finishing his first feature film THX 1138. He initially planned to adapt the Flash Gordon serials…
  • The Avengers (2012 film)In April 2005, Marvel Studios received a loan from Merrill Lynch to begin developing a film based on the Avengers. Avi Arad, the CEO of Marvel Studios…
  • 2001: A Space OdysseyStanley Kubrick told a publicist from Columbia Pictures in 1964 that his next project would be about extraterrestrial life.
  • The TerminatorIn Rome, Italy, during the release of Piranha II: The Spawning in 1982, director James Cameron fell ill and experienced a vivid dream.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingIn the shadow of Mount Doom, a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins clings to a crumbling ledge while his loyal companion Samwise Gamgee pulls him upward.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two TowersFrodo Baggins awakens from a dream of Gandalf fighting the Balrog in Moria, finding himself and Samwise Gamgee lost in the Emyn Muil near Mordor.
  • Jaws (film)Principal photography began on the 2nd of May 1974, on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. The production team faced immediate logistical…
  • A Clockwork Orange (film)Anthony Burgess sold the film rights to his 1962 novel for a modest sum shortly after its publication. The project initially targeted the rock band the…
  • Deadpool & WolverineDevelopment on a third Deadpool film began at 20th Century Fox by November 2016. David Leitch was hired to direct Deadpool 2 in November 2016 after Tim…
  • Mad Max 2Director George Miller abandoned a project called Roxanne in Los Angeles. He had been working on that script with Terry Hayes for months.
  • Return of the JediLuke Skywalker stands before the massive jaws of a rancor, his lightsaber glowing green in the dim light of Jabba the Hutt's palace.
  • Thor (film)Sam Raimi first developed the concept of a film adaptation based on Thor in 1991. He met Thor co-creator Stan Lee and pitched the idea to 20th Century Fox…
  • InceptionChristopher Nolan first wrote an 80-page treatment about dream stealers in the early 2000s. He originally envisioned Inception as a horror film before…
  • Star Wars: The Last JediIn October 2012, Disney acquired Lucasfilm and announced a new trilogy of Star Wars films. J.J. Abrams directed the first installment, The Force Awakens…
  • Spirited AwayTen-year-old Chihiro Ogino and her parents Akio and Yūko travel to their new home. Akio takes a shortcut through a tunnel leading to what appears to be an…
  • The Empire Strikes BackGeorge Lucas stood at a crossroads in 1978. The unexpected success of Star Wars had made him wealthy, but it also brought threats and unwelcome requests for…
  • Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom MenaceGeorge Lucas returned to the Star Wars franchise in 1993 after a long hiatus that began with the release of Return of the Jedi in 1983.
  • Rogue OneIn 2003, visual effects supervisor John Knoll pitched a story called Destroyer of Worlds during the production of Episode III in Sydney.
  • Star Wars: The Rise of SkywalkerA year after the Battle of Crait, Emperor Palpatine sends a message of revenge to the galaxy. Kylo Ren obtains a Sith wayfinder that leads him to the hidden…
  • Princess MononokeHayao Miyazaki composed the preliminary ideas for what would become Princess Mononoke in 1980 after releasing his first film, The Castle of Cagliostro.
  • Titanic (1997 film)James Cameron stared into the dark Atlantic in 1985 and saw a ghost. He had spent years studying shipwrecks, but the Titanic felt like Mount Everest to him.
  • The GodfatherIn 1967, a literary scout for Paramount Pictures contacted Peter Bart about an unfinished sixty-page manuscript titled Mafia.
  • Star Wars: The Force AwakensIn October 2012, the Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion. This acquisition marked a seismic shift in the franchise's history.
  • Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the ClonesGeorge Lucas began writing the script for Attack of the Clones in March 2000, just three months before principal photography started.
  • Everything Everywhere All at OnceEvelyn Quan Wang stands in a laundromat in Simi Valley, California, staring at an IRS audit notice that threatens to destroy her family's life.
  • Groundhog Day (film)In 1990, screenwriter Danny Rubin sat in a theater lobby reading Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat. He began musing about vampiric immortality and what one…
  • The Shawshank RedemptionFrank Darabont purchased the film rights to Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption for five thousand dollars in 1987.
  • Barbie (film)The concept of a live-action Barbie film first emerged in the mid-1980s at Cannon Films, but nothing came to fruition. Renewed development began in September…
  • Melancholia (2011 film)Lars von Trier developed the story of Melancholia during a therapy session in 2010. A therapist told him that people suffering from depression often act more…
  • Indiana Jones and the Dial of DestinyPlans for a fifth Indiana Jones film date back to 1979, when George Lucas and Steven Spielberg made a deal with Paramount Pictures to produce five films.