[1] In his early days in the industry working as an assistant editor, Ashby discussed with his friend Tom Blackwell the possibilities of turning Aldous Huxley's Brave New World into a film.
Set twenty years after the dropping of the atomic bomb, the story follows a war correspondent obsessed with Hiroshima who begins a personal crusade to prevent further nuclear activity.
[3] After shooting was completed on Harold and Maude, Ashby was setting up to direct a screenplay by Joseph Gillette titled Owen Butler, a satire in which the main protagonist systematically kills a number of high-profile figures and gets away with it.
He already pitched the project to Robert Evans and interested Beau Bridges in the lead role, planning to get it made through a short-lived company he and Charles B. Mulvehill had just set up, Dumb Fuck Films.
Ashby began auditioning actors in New York that May, including Danny DeVito, James Woods, F. Murray Abraham, William Devane, Meat Loaf and John Belushi.
While Kesey was writing the screenplay for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ashby signed to direct MGM's Three Cornered Circle (alternately titled No Way Out), which was a modern take on James M. Cain's classic novel The Postman Always Rings Twice.
[16] During filming of The Last Detail, Peter Sellers, who wanted to work with Ashby, sent him a number of scripts including Arigato, based on Richard Condon's comic novel about a wine heist.
"[7] While previewing Shampoo, Ashby struck a development deal with United Artists to direct Rudy Wurlitzer's script Zebulon (alternately titled Beyond the Mountain), a Western about the myth of the American frontier originally written for Sam Peckinpah.
After Ashby read it, he employed Jones to help with rewrites on Bound for Glory and to adapt Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King, a property he had just acquired.
[25] In late 1982, Ashby was leaning toward doing the film with Jack Nicholson, and Dustin Hoffman and Clint Eastwood both considered to play the second lead, but the idea was put on hold.
[26][27] In 1988, at the same time he was preparing to direct Hand Carved Coffins and Vital Parts, Ashby was finally attempting to realize The Hawkline Monster, enlisting Rick Padilla to help him put together a step outline.
[32] At the time of Coming Home's release, Ashby was considering directing American Me for Paramount as his next project, but by May 1978 he didn't feel the script was strong enough to proceed, so he passed on it.
[38] Also in development under Ashby's Lorimar deal was a script by Robert Downey Sr., Almost Together (alternately titled Victor Hiatus), which follows the plight of a man randomly selected to save the world who is more interested in getting laid.
[37] The third Lorimar project developed for Ashby, Roadshow (alternately titled Spangler), was a Western written by novelist William Hjortsberg, described as "a modern-day Robin Hood story.
[39] In 1979, after Being There, Ashby wanted to work with Peter Sellers again on a film written by Terry Southern called Grossing Out,[40] about a toy designer who makes a pact with the Pentagon to produce weapons of mass destruction.
A deal with United Artists was struck for Ashby to start production on the film in March, however, Judith Rascoe's script failed to live up to expectations, and the project was put on hold for rewrites.
[45] After Hand Carved Coffins was put on hold, Ashby was approached by his friend Mick Jagger about directing an adaptation of Kalki, the apocalyptic novel by Gore Vidal.
[47] Jagger wanted a comic actress the likes of Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton or Jane Fonda to play the role of the lesbian character Teddy, but none were willing to take the risk.
[27] Around the same time, Ashby flirted with doing a musical project, and reached out to Willie Nelson about the idea of turning his as-yet-unreleased album Tougher Than Leather into a film.
[27] Mike Medavoy of Orion Pictures wanted to reestablish a partnership with Ashby, and sign him to direct Modern Bride, a romantic comedy that was to star Diane Keaton.
[55] Medavoy also proposed to Ashby the basketball comedy Bake and Shake, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and with Jack Nicholson talked up as a possible star.
[56] In early 1983, actress Jessica Lange interested Ashby in a project with the working title "Modern Day Farm Drama" (later called Country), a contemporary film about farmers' extreme financial difficulties, in the vein of The Grapes of Wrath.
He was signed on to supervise William D. Wittliff in the writing of the screenplay and to direct the movie in the fall that year, in order to capture the corn harvest on film as it happened.
[60] During the production of 8 Million Ways to Die, Ashby expressed his interest to Rosanna Arquette in casting her in a remake of the 1955 David Lean film Summertime, but wanted to wait until she was old enough to play the part.
[61] In February 1986, Dustin Hoffman contacted Ashby to ask him if he was interested in working with him on a film version of Elmore Leonard's novel LaBrava, about an ex-secret service agent who becomes involved in blackmail.
[62] Ashby wanted to cast either Debbie Reynolds, June Allyson, or Kathryn Grayson opposite Hoffman, for the role of the middle aged film star.
[63] LaBrava was due to start filming in Miami in August that year, but Hoffman was unhappy with the script and uneasy about plans to pair his character with an older woman.
[65] In 1987, Ashby worked briefly for producer Elliott Kastner on a screen version of Noel Behn's comic novel about a heist gone wrong, Seven Silent Men.
Ashby continued to work after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and had tried to take over She's De-Lovely, a script written by John Cassavetes that Sean Penn wanted to make.