Arrive Alive is the title of an unfinished

Shelved

In politics, the term can be used for policy drafts, that have never been officially brought into legislation.In the film industry, a film is considered shelved if it is not released for public viewing after filming has started, or even completed....

 comedy film

Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 starring Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...

 and Joan Cusack

Joan Cusack

Joan Mary Cusack is an American film, stage and television actress. Throughout her career, Cusack has appeared in many films as well as appearing in stage productions....

, directed

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 by Jeremiah S. Chechik

Jeremiah S. Chechik

Jeremiah S. Chechik is the director of such films as National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Benny & Joon, Diabolique and The Avengers....

 and produced

Film producer

A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

 by Art Linson

Art Linson

Art Linson is an American film producer, director and screenwriter.He was born in Chicago, Illinois. His directorial debut was the 1980 comedy, Where the Buffalo Roam, which was loosely based on stories by Hunter S. Thompson and starred Bill Murray as the writer...

.

The story concerns a hotel manager (Dafoe) and his girlfriend (Cusack) involved in various scams. Cusack was an up-and-coming actress, working on Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

, and Dafoe was getting terrific buzz

Word of mouth

Word of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...

 from The Last Temptation of Christ

The Last Temptation of Christ

The Last Temptation of Christ is a novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1953. It was first published in English in 1960. It follows the life of Jesus Christ from his perspective...

.

However, after a week's filming, the producers felt that the lines they had thought so funny in the script weren't getting the laughs they hoped for. The decision was taken to cancel production and write off the $7 million cost.

The whole story is related in Linson's book A Pound of Flesh

A Pound of Flesh

A Pound of Flesh is a 2004 horror film directed and written by Tony Urban and starring Jeff Dylan Graham, John Patrick Barry and Nathan Faudree.-Cast:* Jeff Dylan Graham- Denny Packer* John Patrick Barry- Tobe* Nathan Faudree- Ezra Payne...

.