The Movies Steven Spielberg Said No To — And Someone Else Won the Oscar For

He Was Actually IN Pre-Production On Harry Potter. Then He Bailed.

Spielberg didn't just get a casual offer — he spent months developing the first Harry Potter film with screenwriter Steve Kloves before walking away. He wanted it animated, with Haley Joel Osment voicing Harry, a pitch Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling weren't on board with, and he's since said he simply wasn't ready to make an all-kids movie. Chris Columbus took over instead, and the franchise became a billion-dollar phenomenon.

He Gave Up Rain Man For Indiana Jones — And Basically Handed Barry Levinson An Oscar

Spielberg spent almost half a year developing Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, and writer Ron Bass before a scheduling conflict with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade forced his hand. He stepped aside for Barry Levinson, who won the Best Director Oscar, while the film swept Best Picture and became the highest-grossing movie of 1988. Spielberg later admitted the loss stung, even joking he wondered if he should have ditched Indy 3 to keep it.

He Turned Down Big Because His Own Sister Wrote It

Anne Spielberg co-wrote Big, and producer Jim Brooks lobbied hard for her brother to direct it with Harrison Ford in the lead. Spielberg said no on principle — he didn't want a movie written by his sister to get credited entirely to him. Penny Marshall stepped in with Tom Hanks instead, and it became the first film directed by a woman to gross over $100 million, plus an Oscar nomination for Anne's screenplay.

Big Fish Was Supposed To Be His Follow-Up To Minority Report. It Never Happened.

Spielberg was set to direct Big Fish right after Minority Report, with Jack Nicholson eyed for the lead, and even had writer John August rework the script to give Nicholson more to do. When he wasn't satisfied and left to direct Catch Me If You Can instead, the project drifted to Tim Burton, who'd just lost both his parents and found the father-son story deeply personal — turning it into one of his most acclaimed films.

Jim Carrey And Spielberg Almost Made Meet the Parents. Then Spielberg Got Cold Feet.

Director Jay Roach had the script ready to go when DreamWorks' Spielberg swooped in, wanting to direct with Jim Carrey as Greg Focker. But Spielberg got nervous about tackling straight comedy and dropped out, and Carrey followed him out the door over scheduling. Roach got the project back, cast Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro instead, and turned it into one of 2000's biggest hits and a franchise that spawned two sequels.