Filmmakers and cinema industries across the globe invest more time, money and creative energy in projects and ideas that never get produced than in the movies that actually make it to the screens. Thousands of projects are abandoned in pre-production, halted, cut short, or even made and never distributed - a "shadow cinema" that exists only in the archives. This collection of essays by leading scholars and researchers opens those archives to draw on a wealth of previously unexamined scripts, correspondence and production material, reconstructing many of the hidden histories of the last hundred years of world cinema. Highlighting the fact that the movies we see are actually the exception to the rule, this study uncovers the myriad reasons why 'failures' occur and considers how understanding those failures can transform the disciplines of film and media history. The first survey of this new area of empirical study across transnational borders, Shadow Cinema is a vital and fascinating demonstration of the importance of the unmade, unseen, and unknown history of cinema. This important volume will help to consolidate a rapidly growing area of research in Film Studies and related disciplines. The authors do not only provide outlines of individual films that could have been, but, more fundamentally, investigate the financial, legal, creative, political and logistical difficulties of getting films into production and onto screens. Their chapters deal, often in a wholly surprising manner, with familiar names (ranging from David O'Selznick and Hammer Films to Jean-Luc Godard and Ritwik Ghatak) and also with a wealth of lesser known personnel and companies.