'Batman: Year One' Movie Cast News: Joaquin Phoenix Wanted as the Caped Crusader
While promoting his latest film "Mother!" starring Jennifer Lawrence, director Darren Aronofsky spoke about his "Batman" movie that never was.
Back in 1999, Warner Bros. Pictures tapped Aronofsky to adapt for film Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One," the revered gritty comic story that followed the Caped Crusader's first few years in the crimefighting business.
Aronofsky whipped up a dark take for the movie, but Warner Bros. did not go through with it and instead turned their attention to Christopher Nolan's Batman films.
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The director was initially interested in rebooting "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" with another gritty film starring Clint Eastwood as an older worn-out Batman. While Warner Bros. Pictures were on board, it was scrubbed with Aronofsky turning his attention to adapting Miller's masterpiece.
In an interview with Yahoo Movies, the director spoke about why his "Batman: Year One" film did not make it to the big screen, suggesting that it might have to do with the comic book film industry just starting out at that time:
It's funny, I think we were just sort of out of time with our idea. I understood that [with] comics, there's room for all different types of titles, but I think Hollywood at that time was still in the Golden Age of comics, and they were still just doing the classic titles in classic ways.
He revealed that for this "Batman: Year One" movie, he wanted Joaquin Phoenix to play the titular role, explaining that he "always wanted [the actor] for Batman."
Unfortunately, it looks like Aronofsky's idea about this Dark Knight adventure will not materialize anytime soon although such concept is very much alive in the comic book film industry as it is today.
In fact, Warner Bros. Pictures is looking to make a standalone Joker origin movie with Leonardo Di Caprio reportedly set to play the role of the Clown Prince of Crime.
I think audiences now, they've seen enough comic films that they're game for that. So I think we were a little bit out of time for our idea.
