development hell

The situation where a movie, a piece of software, etc. is mired in problems that delay its production and release.

Noun

  1. The situation where a movie, a piece of software, etc. is mired in problems that delay its production and release.
    • The third movie in the trilogy has been in development hell for ten years already! I want to see how the story ends!
    • In Hollywood, it was widely known that to make a deal with Redford was to fall into development hell—script notes, rewrites, and more rewrites—often going nowhere. - 2013, Peter Biskind, Down and Dirty Pictures, Simon...

    Synonyms: development limbo production hell

Related

valley of death