Development hell

**Development hell** (also known as **development purgatory** and **development limbo**) is a term for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts or studios before it progresses to production, if it ever does, and any project that has languished unexpectedly in its planning or construction phases, rather than being completed in a realistic amount of time, or otherwise having diverted from its original timely expected date of completion. A film is said to be placed in **production hell** when it has entered production but remains in that state for a long time without progressing to post.

Projects in development hell generally have very ambitious goals, which may or may not be underestimated in the design phase, and are delayed in an attempt to meet those goals in a high degree.

## List of KB works currently in development hell

### Fire in the Night: Jetfire

This film, announced in 2013, focuses on the early life of ROTF Jetfire in his Decepticon years. It would have been the first stand-alone film for an Autobot in the KB Transformers series, with a projected release date for 2015. In February 2015, KB announced the Jetfire project is dead, placing it in development hell. However in September 2016, Joshua K revealed that the film may still be placed under production.

In 2014, Drift: Circle of Light became the first stand-alone film for an Autobot.

### Kai Xin Girls Re-Visit Japan: The Second Coming

Kai Xin Girls in Japan: The Second Coming was announced on 16 May 2014 at the 2014 Asian Fan Fiction Film Festival in Hong Kong. Although the storyline will have connections with the previous film, it will include a new cast in addition to the original. The Second Coming will focus on the Kai Xin Girls going to Kyoto and coming into conflict with Yakuza-based extremists. At the same time, the first film is contesting for the Golden Samurai award.

Lolita Chun announced to return as the film’s director and main actress. However, a week after the announcement, Lolita released a statement stating that the sequel was "not being done with Kowloon-Canton and Iron Oxide’s consent" and that the producers were "capitalizing on that innovative film to make money on a weak sequel" and attempting to "make money off someone else's creativity."

### Future Countryballs/Polandball films

In January 2012, KB decides that their alternate history series World War III will be a trilogy. Later that year, the Countryballs theme is applied to convey the story in a satirical but toned down way. Plans for future installments were shelved due to the film's production troubles, placing them in development hell.

In June 2013, after the successful opening of Countryballs: World War III, KB announced that it was moving ahead with a sequel, entitled Countryballs World War IV: The End of the World. In December 2013, the first draft synopsis is revealed, which foretells a feud against believers of the 2012 apocalypse, which indeed happened in the Countryballs world. In May 2014, the script is completed. In May 2015, it was announced that the film would be released on June 9, 2017, but in January 2016, KB announced that the sequel is dragged back to development hell  and would not be released until 2018 or possibly even 2019. On June 24, 2017, KB placed the project back in development, announcing that the Polandball character will be returning via a slogan: “Poland can into sequel”. The film is slated to start filming in fall of 2018. However, in April 2018, it is revealed that filming will not begin in 2018, sending the sequel back into development hell.

Also in 2013, KB announced two spin-off films in the Countryballs franchise. The first film, entitled Reichtangle, is another alternate history flick featuring one of the franchise’s major villains, the Reichtangle, described as a rectangle in the colors of the flag of the German Empire. The Reichtangle film was completed in 2015 and is slated for an October release with 97 minutes of running time, but the film is dragged to development hell due to the low performance of the World War III film.

The second spin-off film is entitled Countryballs: The Last War, which is set in an alternate future should the last film in the Countryballs World Wars trilogy had not ended all wars in the Countryballs world (Earthball). The film is announced to be a remake of the 1961 Japanese anti-war film The Last War, which is also the source of the film’s title. As of 2017, no updates were confirmed for the film, causing it to be shelved and to languish in development hell. In January 2018, the film’s final scenes are leaked and are said to feature the Polandball character finally getting into space before a bomb explosion sends it back to Earthball. The last shot shows Earthball, now a barren place, with the remains of the continents at the centre and a warning laid over the screen, asking for the events in this film never to happen.

### Godzilla: The Return of Hyperaven

In October 2013, KB World reported that Eve "Aree" Eva is interested in directing a sequel to Godzilla vs. Hyperaven. However, after a major backlash of the original by film critics, the sequel is dragged to development hell in December 2013. On June 16, 2014, KB stated that no further developments had taken place. Eventually, in December 2014, the sequel is announced to be “dead”.

### Godzilla vs. The Host: Round 2

In June 2013, it was announced that Eve “Aree” Eva wants to direct a sequel to Godzilla vs. The Host. The film was set for a 2014 release. As of November 2015, however, KB later confirmed that the sequel is dragged to development hell, with no updates on the sequel's production.

### KB: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, MAD World, Too

KB Productions made two attempts to produce a sequel to KB: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The first attempt is a project set to be released in 2015 and will feature the Kai Xin Girls (Lolita Chun, May Seven, Ka-Rei Goh and Fanny Soh) piloting the four main Evangelion units, which would have made it the first KB work to feature the piloting of the Evangelions, as they are sentient in their original appearances in the KB Transformers films. The plot for the first film would later be adapted to another sequel, this time to KB New Year Special. KB New Year Special: The Second Celebration was released on January 1, 2015.

The second attempt is a 2017 release with new additions to the cast including several Transformers characters. However, there is no confirmation to the sequel’s production, thus the project is dragged to development hell.

### Kanegon and Kanegoneh

KB attempts to write a second sequel to their first Kaijuvengers film, Kanegon. KB World gave a brief one-line mention in its March 23, 2013 issue that the third film was in development. However, it was later reported that KB drags the film to development hell due to the script. On April 10, 2013, KB Productions admitted that they did accept the script and they're moving along with it; KB also said that the sequel would be darker in tone. On July 17, 2013, KB announced that the third Kanegon film is sent back to development hell. In March 2014, the script is rewritten.

### MHC remake sequel

The remake is announced by 1249 Pictures in February 2013, with Lolita Chun and Ka-Rei Goh reportedly attached to become director and executive producer.

### Mecha-Mothra film series

KB announced in 2012 that a Mecha-Mothra film series is being planned.

In late 2012, when the official Kaiju University website FAQ was asked whether a Mecha-Mothra movie would be made, it was responded with "there are no plans for a Mecha-Mothra movie". The Mecha-Mothra movie project is sent to development hell due to this.

In 2013, KB shelved the Mecha-Mothra film project, as well as a future Transformers: Fri13 sequel, during their negotiations to co-finance another Kaiju University film, E=mc2. Previous efforts to create a Mecha-Mothra film were complicated.

In 2016, KB expressed interest in basing the plot of the 1990s Rebirth of Mothra films as the plot of the Mecha-Mothra film series.

### Kaiju Basketmania

The film is a remake of the 1996 film Space Jam featuring characters from Japanese sci-fi series Godzilla and Ultraman. Plans for a remake using Digimon characters have been announced back in 2002, with the characters contending in a stadium called the “Attack Stadium”. The sequel is also planned to include the series’ soundtrack by Takanori Arisawa. However, the K Brothers lost interest in the franchise in 2007 and the remake is shelved.

In February 2014, KB announced a potential remake of Space Jam set to feature characters from the Japanese Godzilla and Ultraman series, and a soundtrack from Takanori Arisawa. The script is being written. In July 2015, KB Productions signed a deal with the Godzilla and Ultraman cast for casting. On May 2, 2016, the film is announced to be set in Japan. In August 2016, KB said that the movie is still in the works. On December 1, 2016, Godzilla, Ultraman and a team of Ultra Kaiju appear in what is supposedly the first commercial of the film.

In a November 2016 interview, KB revealed that the company had been pitched a "really weird" idea for a remake that stars Godzilla and Ultraman as main characters. Ultimately, nothing materialised from the idea, and the sequel is once again dragged to development hell.

In July 2017, the soundtrack is revamped with new musical cues from the Sailor Moon original series (also from Arisawa), with the Sailor Moon franchise joining KB’s roster of fan fiction universes several months ago.

### Quintessons: Five Faces of Darkness

K Brothers Productions announced in September 2010 interview with Impossible Pictures Productions that they are intending to make a film about the Quintessons, a race of five-faced mechanical aliens from the Transformers series. The film will focus on the origins of the Quintessons, and the Cybertronians and the period leading up to the Cybertronian uprising along with the Quintessons’ eventual downfall and exodus. Filming was planned to begin sometime in 2011.

In April 2011, KB confirmed that pre-production work was continuing. However, in July 2013, KB announced that the film is placed in development hell after a major cast member dropped out.

In December 2013, it was announced that some Quintesson characters from WALL-E and the Transformers: The Day Earth Stood Still will appear. Production had been due to begin in the summer of 2014, but is once again dragged to development hell in July 2014 due to KB shifting its focus to work on the next WALL-E and the Transformers film, The Third Reich. WALL-E and the Transformers: The Third Reich is released in November 2015.

After work on WALL-E and the Transformers: The Third Reich has completed producers KB Productions wrote a new screenplay. On 4 November 2016, it was announced that the film was now backed by 35th Century Joe’s, with shooting set to have begun in early 2017. In June 2017, KB announced that Quintessa from Transformers: The Last Knight is cast as the ruler of the planet Quintessa, and that the Evangelions will appear in the film as they are also created by the Quintessons.

Quintessons: Five Faces of Darkness was eventually released on October 25, 2018.