[5] Nichols was writers John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion's second choice to direct their musical remake of A Star Is Born, centered in the rock world.
[8] Around 1976–77, actress Julie Christie, producer David Susskind and Nichols expressed interest in Swing Shift, an original screenplay by Nancy Dowd for Paramount.
At this stage, the story focused on the central characters of "Lucky Lockhart" and "Rosie", who was later rewritten as "Hazel Zanussi" following several rewrites over the years, overseen by Bo Goldman and Ron Nyswaner.
[10] In 1978, Nichols spent several months working on the film adaptation of A Chorus Line for Universal Pictures with screenwriter Bo Goldman, who were both concerned about how to widen its plot and make it more visual without destroying what made the original stage production so affective.
Goldman's finished screenplay did not satisfy Universal head Ned Tanen and their version was ultimately scrapped after Nichols could not receive a larger projected budget than $16 million, which he deemed "impractical".
[12] In 1979, Nichols and Miloš Forman expressed interest in dividing directorial duties of the NY and European scenes, respectively, for Sophie's Choice, which Alan J. Pakula had signed on earlier to produce and direct.
After rehearsing with the actors in Los Angeles and making script suggestions, Nichols left the project as he was otherwise committed to directing Heartburn with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson.
[16] In 1988, it was reported that Paramount Pictures optioned Terrence McNally's two-character play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune for Nichols to direct as a film.
[17] In 1992,[18][19][20][21][22] In March 1993,[21][22] In July 1993,[23] In 1994,[24] In an April 1999 profile for The New York Times, Nichols revealed that his next project was likely to be a remake of the 1949 black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets which was being written by Elaine May and set to star Robin Williams.
[34][35] In September 2004, Nichols was in discussions to direct Julia Roberts in the rom-com Seven-Year Switch, with Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher producing for Columbia Pictures and Red Wagon.
[42] In 2014, Nichols was announced to direct the TV movie adaptation of Terrence McNally's play Master Class for HBO, with Meryl Streep set to star as Maria Callas.