These included a satire set around a group of global leaders that Spike Jonze was to direct and Joaquin Phoenix to star in, an adaptation of George Saunders's book "CivilWarLand in Bad Decline" that Ben Stiller was to direct, an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Slaughterhouse Five" that Guillermo del Toro was to direct and an adaptation of Arthur Herzog's novel "IQ 83" that Steve Carell was to star in.