TerryRL

Batman: Year One

According to Dark Horizons, WB has accepted the latest script from Darren Aronofsky and Frank Miller. WB hopes to begin filming sometime next year. The film is slated for a 2003 release.

Do any of you have any opinions as to who WB will cast in the roles of the younger Batman/Bruce Wayne, Catwoman, and the Joker?

By the way, I had heard that the movie will be a cross between "The Killing Joke" and the 'Year One' comics. If that is indeed the case, than 'Year One' could turn out to be a truly special movie.

Larry Sutliff

I'm looking forward to this flick. I hope BATMAN is finally done right on the big screen. Burton's two films have a lot going for them but the stories were weak. I read somewhere(perhaps on the ever reliable AICN)that Wolfgang Peterson was going to film a SUPERMAN/BATMAN teamup flick. Is there any truth to this rumor I wonder, and if so, which film will come first?

TerryRL

Apparently, Petersen is tentatively attached to doing the Batman/Superman (World's Finest) movie. The movie was put into development largely due to WB shelving the "Batman Beyond" movie, as well as WB's continuing struggles to get "Superman Lives" off the ground. That also looks like it's going to be permanently shelved.

'Year One' would be the first one to hit theaters, followed by "World's Finest" a year later. If "World's Finest" is a big hit, that would jumpstart a Superman franchise. From what I've heard, WB wants to have a Batman movie every other year, as well as a Superman movie. It'll look something like this...

2003 "Batman: Year One"
2004 "The World's Finest"
2005 'Year One' sequel
2006 a spin-off Superman movie
2007 another Batman sequel
2008 a Superman sequel

and so on. The other option is for WB to release both 'Year One' and 'World's Finest' in the same year. Release 'Year One' in May or June, followed by 'World's Finest' in December. They could start their Superman spin-off franchise a year early.

Or Jon Peters will pull off a minor miracle and actually resurrect "Superman Lives" from the dead. If that happens before any sort of pre-production begins on 'World's Finest' than WB will likely shelve the team-up movie and save it for later, after both franchises are either firmly established or running out of gas.

WB has a lot of options here, but the 'Year One' movie has to be a major hit for any of it to come to fruition. In any event, it'll definetly be interesting theater to see if all of this goes down.

Larry Sutliff

Thanks for the info, Terry!

Hmmm...so if BATMAN:YEAR ONE is first, does that mean the person who portrays the Dark Knight in YEAR ONE will also get the job in WORLDS FINEST? The article I read about the latter film indicates that Batman in that film is based on the character in the four existing BAT flicks. I guess that's a detail that can be tweaked by WB.

TerryRL

If WB does go ahead and do the 'World's Finest' movie, than don't be surprised if Petersen gets George Clooney to don the cape and cowl again. The two reportedly had a wonderful time working together on "The Perfect Storm" and Clooney has apparently wanted to redeem himself in the eyes of "Batman" fans following the travesty that was "Batman & Robin".

Tom Gradisek

Year one is a terrible idea. It invalidates the Batman movie from 1989. I would have rather seen a Batman movie in the style that Tim Burton so greatly presented, especially now that Schumacher and Goldsman don't have any creative input.

Whomever is cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman is fine with me as long as it's a little-known or unknown actor. Keep Ben Affleck as far away as possible from this film.

Patrick Sun

The guy who plays Brian Piccolo in the remake of "Brian's Song" has the look of a young Bruce Wayne, but I wasn't too impresed with him in "The $treet" on Fox last yer.

We need to find a way to cast Jennifer Connelly in this film (even if she's doing Ang Lee's "The Incredible Hulk" film)

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Larry Sutliff

Actually, Clooney wasn't bad at all in the film and he certainly was a credible looking Batman/Bruce Wayne. What ruined that film was an absolutely horrible script and direction. Clooney was one of the people who escaped that production with his dignity intact IMHO.

Steve Enemark

My enthusiasm for the YEAR ONE movie is already dimming. Early reports say that they are working on designs for the Batmobile and the Joker.

Um...hello? Neither the "Batmobile" nor the Joker appear in the story, at least not in the comics I read. If they can't muster the respect to do a faithful adaptation of the story, don't do it at all.

\"The feel of the experience is the important thing, not the ability to verbalize it.\" -Stanley Kubrick

TerryRL

Clooney keeps saying in interviews that he "killed the Batman franchise". I agree that the movie was horrible and he was actually ok in the movie. The main problem was Joel Schumacher. He seemed to be going for some sort of fetish art flick rather than a coherent action movie.

I think WB should do with 'Year One' what they did with the first Superman movie. Hire a soap actor (or any complete unknown) and turn him into Bruce Wayne/Batman like they did with Christopher Reeve in turning him into Superman.

With Ben Affleck already playing Daredevil, no one needs to worry about him donning the cape and cowl anytime soon.