In 1974, it was announced that Demme was going direct a screenplay he wrote for Roger Corman based on The Confidence-Man, a novel by Herman Melville set on a Mississippi riverboat in the 1850s.
[6] In 1981, Demme was attached to direct the film adaptation of Beth Henley's play Crimes of the Heart, executive produced by Burt Sugarman.
"[12] Also in April 1984, Demme revealed that he talked with John Milius about making a film from one of his scripts, "a semi-political fantasy thriller", about a futuristic account of a Green Beret action set within the United States.
Cast to play the lead at that time was Debra Winger, who disagreed with Demme's approach to the material and advocated for Penny Marshall to replace him as director.
[13] Also in late 1984, Carolco Pictures acquired Extreme Prejudice, a modern day Western written by John Milius, and was negotiating with Demme to direct.
[14] In December that year, Demme told Daily Variety he hoped to complete a rewrite of the screenplay by March and begin filming in Texas in summer 1985, with Milius aboard as a producer.
However, neither Demme nor Milius stayed with the project and Walter Hill was brought aboard to direct the film with Nick Nolte in the Mitchum part.
[22] In 1993, it was reported that Demme and Edward Saxon would team with producer Eric Pleskow to develop Rapid Pace of Battle, a war drama based on the true story of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Hayles.
[24] Adapted from Greg Weston's book by playwright Beth Henley,[8] the project was to star Kenneth Branagh, Kate Winslet and Bono as the gang of real-life Canadian bank robbers.
[26] In 1999, it was reported that Demme, Chris Columbus, Rob Reiner and Brad Silberling were each in the running to direct the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, after Steven Spielberg departed from the project.
Demme courted Hugh Grant, Tea Leoni and Geoffrey Wright to play the leads, but later dropped out of the project, and the Coens took over directorial duties.
[35] In August 2010, Demme was set to direct the feature film adaptation of Bart Baker's novel Honeymoon with Harry, with Paul Haggis writing the screenplay, Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper in talks to star, producing the movie with Dave Bartis, Elloit Abbott, & Avram Ludwig.
[39] In 2012, it was reported that Demme was attached to direct the family dramedy Old Fires from a script by Heather McGowan about a world-renowned architect who comes out of a coma wanting to reconnect with his children and win back his wife's love.
[40][35] In 2013, it was revealed by Jennifer Ehle (who was cast to star in the film alongside Bryan Cranston and Jason Segel), that it had been postponed due to inability to secure financing.