The Canceled Gilligan's Island Movie That Could Have Revived The Franchise

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale about a show that was hated by critics and even its network, CBS, but became such a pop culture touchstone that we're still talking about it over 50 years after it went off the air. "Gilligan's Island," the comedy about a group of people marooned on an island together after their boat encounters a storm, originally ran for just three seasons on CBS between 1964 and 1967 — at which point it joined the ranks of beloved TV shows that never got the ending they deserved, when CBS canceled it before the gang even got rescued. 

Although it would live on for decades to come, not only in reruns but in various spin-off projects, there has yet to be an actual "Gilligan's Island" reboot, either as a TV show or a movie. If that seems surprising given how iconic the show is and how it has become beloved by multiple generations, it hasn't been for lack of trying. 

Original creator Sherwood Schwartz had a few reboot ideas of his own over the years that just never came together for one reason or another. More recently, two different ideas for a "Gilligan's Island" reboot movie ended up going to battle with one another when the person behind the earlier one accused the folks behind the later one of stealing his concept. As a result, we still haven't seen a "Gilligan's Island" revival — and instead have to settle for the fascinating history behind why that is.

After CBS left the crew and passengers of the ill-fated S.S. Minnow seemingly marooned on the island forever, NBC literally saved them in 1978 when the network aired the TV movie "Rescue from Gilligan's Island." But the movie proved too popular to let Gilligan (Bob Denver), the Skipper (Alan Hale), and the rest stay on the mainland for long. In 1979, they got shipwrecked right back on their old island for "The Castaways of Gilligan's Island." Two years later, the third and most gimmicky (which is saying something) "Gilligan's Island" TV movie aired in "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island."

Before any of that happened, though, ABC also got in on the action in 1974 with the animated series "The New Adventures of Gilligan's Island." Ginger and Mary Ann were recast — both voiced by Jane Webb — but Gilligan, the Skipper, Thurston Howell (Jim Backus), Lovey Howell (Natalie Schafer), and the Professor (Russell Johnson) were all voiced by their original actors. It ran for two seasons. 

The most recent entry to date in the "Gilligan's Island" universe arrived in 1982, with CBS finally getting back on board the property via the single-season animated series "Gilligan's Planet." The premise had the group escape the island on a rocket built by the Professor, but instead of simply going home they end up stranded on another planet. Dawn Wells came back this time to play Mary Ann, while also playing Ginger. Ironically, the only main actor still alive from "Gilligan's Island" is the original Ginger, Tina Louise, who refused to participate in the franchise after the original series ended. 

In addition to his many writing credits, Sherwood Schwartz cemented his place as a legend in television history primarily by being the creator of both "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch." However, while "The Brady Bunch" managed a critically and commercially successful reboot with 1995's theatrical "The Brady Bunch Movie" — which was reworked from a draft originally written by Schwartz and his son, Lloyd — "Gilligan's Island" remains dormant. 

But it's not because Schwartz didn't try. In fact, the year after he and his son pitched their "Brady Bunch" reboot, the duo were also in negotiations with Columbia Pictures for "Gilligan's Island: The Movie." That obviously didn't come to fruition, though it's never been officially revealed why. Undeterred, Schwartz spent many years trying to get a "Gilligan's Island" reboot movie off the ground. At one point, there were rumblings of one that had Jim Carrey potentially attached. In 2008, when Schwartz was 92 years old, he and his son had once again seemed close to actually getting the movie made when they reportedly closed a deal for the project. Schwartz's cast wish list included Michael Cera as Gilligan and Beyonce as Ginger. Unfortunately, once again, that was the last anyone heard of the project. 

Schwartz passed away in 2011, never able to realize his dream of doing — or even seeing — a "Gilligan's Island" theatrical film during his lifetime. 

Though that Blumhouse "Gilligan's Island" trailer was too good to be true – it ended up being AI-generated by a fan — Marvel and DC filmmaker James Gunn was interested in a horror-based take on the franchise at one point. Perhaps not surprisingly, nobody took him up on it. But there was an idea for a "Gilligan's Island" movie that got genuine traction around 2013. Warner Bros. had Josh Gad lined up to not only star in but also co-write a "Gilligan's Island" reboot film, with the late Sherwood Schwartz's sons Lloyd and Ross both executive producing. 

However, like all previous attempts at a "Gilligan's Island" movie, that one got capsized. Shortly after announcing the project, Warner Bros. was sued by a man named Travis Dunson, who claimed that he had previously pitched his own "Gilligan's Island" film to the studio. Dunson said that the new movie seemed a lot like his version — which was called "Gilligan's Island: 7 Stranded Castaways from the Hood" — which he claimed got a favorable response when he pitched it to Warner Bros. The studio fired back, stating that Dunson couldn't sue over copyright infringement when he didn't hold any copyrights for "Gilligan's Island," and that his lawsuit had no merit since his project never went forward. 

Either way, it's been over a decade at this point and we've yet to see that — or any — "Gilligan's Island" reboot, either as a movie or on TV. Either the lawsuit cooled Warner Bros. on the idea and the studio abandoned it, or it just fell apart on its own — like every other attempt to bring this franchise to the big screen over the last 30-plus years.