Richard Linklater famously took 12 years to make Boyhood. But that was a choice and reflected the nature of the work. In our movie trivia vault, we found these scripts that took years to make simply because it took a long time to get anyone interested.

Dallas Buyers Club

Craig Borten finished his based-on-a-true-story screenplay in 1992, and couldn’t get movie studios interested in it because of its subject matter, which was controversial for the time: the HIV/AIDS crisis. He wrote 10 different drafts and production fell through three separate times. It hit screens in 2013, where it won Oscars for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Supporting Actor (Jared Leto) and Best Actor (Matthew McConaughey).

The Simpsons

In 1990, Judd Apatow wrote a “spec script” for The Simpsons. Not necessarily intended for production, writers use them as a calling card to get hired onto the staffs of TV shows. It didn’t get him a job at The Simpsons, but over the last two decades, Apatow has become one of the most powerful comic movie producers and screenwriters in Hollywood. In 2015, after an extensive rewrite, his episode of The Simpsons was produced, and aired. (The plot: Homer gets hypnotized into thinking he’s 10 years old, and him and Bart become good friends.)

Superbad

Actor Seth Rogen and his best friend Evan Goldberg wrote the first draft of a raunchy teen comedy called Superbad in 1997 when they were both teenagers living in Vancouver. A couple years later Rogen broke into Hollywood with a role on the NBC series Freaks and Geeks. After it was cancelled, producer Judd Apatow encouraged Rogen to return to writing, which he balanced with acting in movies like Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. By 2007, Rogen and Apatow had enough clout to get Rogen’s teenage screenplay made. Superbad starred Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as “Seth” and “Evan,” respectively.

For more movie trivia, check out Uncle John’s Plunges into Hollywood.