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Next Batman to be Directed By Pi's Darren Aronofsky
tregoweth writes: "Variety is reporting that Darren Aronofsky, director of 'Pi' and 'Requiem for a Dream,' will be directing the next Batman movie (the one after 'Batman and Robin,' not the 'Batman Beyond' movie). He'll co-write it with Frank Miller, and it will be based on 'Batman: Year One.'" Pi was amazing, so it'll be cool to see where Aronofsky takes the Dark Knight.
For the record, the Pi soundtrack was done by Clint Mansell, former member of Pop Will Eat Itself.
"...a wonderful never-done-before plot..."
Is this a joke? Never done before? Have you every read any science fiction? Ever watched Twilight Zone, Outer Limits or even Hollywood movies? Good gravy, the basic plot of The Matrix was invented by Rene Descartes!
As for being a "tour-de-force on the senses": I agree. Too bad it didn't entertain the brain a little more.
"Pi broke through the barriers of mathmatics being boring..."
That barrier is something that exists between SF and everything else, not between Pi and everything else. That is, there are many many stories/books (and some movies, try "Donald in Mathemagicland") that deal with these issues. I'm not saying Pi (or even The Matrix) was no good--I'm saying they aren't particularly original or "amazing".
"...maybe you should go into films with lower expectations."
If this is the best defense that can be mustered for the low quality of movies as compared to written works, it's no wonder Hollywood isn't improving.
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So I listen to a few people try:"3.34532" and then "3.134542" so I volunteer "3.14156", to which the perosn running the contest says "right, you're the winner so far." The next person says "3.5132", and this continues for a few more people.
Needless to say:
1) I won the contest and have the poster
2) I was in South Carolina at the time.
I demand a million helicopters and a DOLLAR!
Batman 1 & 2: Great character, great production design, great music, great stories...overall GREAT movies.
Batman 3 & 4: Throwaway characters, uneven production design, bad music, and horrible stories...overall BAD movies.
As an aside: Batman 1 & 2, directed by Tim Burton. Batman 3 & 4, not. Coincidence? ;)
The real big thing isn't that Darren Aronofsky is directing, it's that Frank Miller will be adapting Year One for the screenplay. As bad as B&R was, it was only partially directorial problems. The biggest problem was that the story was a giant piece off monkey crap. The best any director could have done with that script would be to make it "watchable", I doubt anyone alive could have made it "good". As long as they stick to Year One, and let Frank Miller actually have a say in how it is transfered, then there is a great basis for a movie, and then the director can take it from "good" to "great". Now, if only they had chosed "Dark Knight Returns" instead...
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...he uses the same guy to do the soundtrack as he did for Pi. That music gave the whole movie a layer of intensity that couldn't have been acheived with the typical swell-dwell-fade crap that so many drama-type films use.
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Pi was a real strange movie. I saw it at some Uptown theater, and I must say the main character was quite the hobbit. He didn't care much for the outside world. The soundtrack was top notch.
I understand that everyone is entitled to their opinion [and mine [grin]], but Pi technically was *bad* -- The writing/plot was shakey at best, camera work was amateur [there is a difference between "bad for effect" and "bad, go back to film school"]. I understand why quite a few people liked the movie. I was even entertained, but I wouldn't call it a good/great movie... Hell, people liked the Matrix... again not a "good" movie, but highly entertaining.
Frank Miller, of course *needs* to do this! How could he not [other than the need to distance himself from the *really awful* post Burton batman movies]?
Maybe this will be the movie that will but the franchise back to life. Maybe they'll get rid of the nipples on the costume. Only time will tell.
Does anyone know who the villain[s] will be?
This is a very exciting development, as I am looking forward to a Batman noir film
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However, if you haven't been paying attention, Hollywood is running scared right now given the strike by the actor's guild regarding payment for ads they star in. Hollywood isn't moving, and because of this laxness, there's buzz that other unions in Hollywood (scriptwriters, technical people, etc) will be striking by March 2001, and effectively shutting down Hollywood. According to US News and World Report this week, this means films that might have scripts but haven't been filmed yet will be the first to be dropped, specifically refering to Batman 5 as one of the first on the chopping board. Instead, the studios are in a flurry trying to buy up as many scripts and episodes they can before anything mihgt happen.
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
First, Pi wasn't "amazing". It was good, but not amazing. It was pretty average science fiction, if you compare books and movies together. (To gauge, "The Matrix" was sub-par, "Star Wars" is lame).
Second, the only good Batman was the first half of the first movie. Starting with the moment Joker pulls the absurdly long gun from his pants the entire series began to suck. No really, that's the exact point it begins to suck. Go back and watch the first movie. Keep track of Kim Basinger's spoken line-to-scream ration before and after that point.
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"Today we have kids/adults/teenagers that are so used to knock-offs of the original that we've become too jaded to see the good in it. Episode 1 was great for those younger than twelve who didn't yet have that 'I'm too cool for this' attitude."
I was born too late to see the original 3 movies in the theater (combined with the fact that I didn't go to a theater until relatively late in life). I was also older than 12 when I saw Episode 1. I also agree that there are knock-offs that are worse done. HOWEVER.
None of those things mean that Star Wars was all that good (or even original). Nor does it automatically infuse Episode 1 with any quality. Prediction: Anyone who read any quantity of science fiction (science fiction, not Anne McCrappy dragon junk) before seeing Star Wars likely found it mediocre at best. A lot of flashy effects, but no story (when compared to things like the Foundation series, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and the like). Episode 1 was even worse. Prediction 2: Find 10 people who saw Episode 1 fewer than 3 times. Ask each of them to tell you what the plot was (the plot, not just a series of scenes like "first there was the floating ship and the poison gas, then the race, then..."). No more than 2 people (if that many) will be anywhere close. Point? Episode 1 either had no plot or hid it behind too-flashy effects.
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It was on a Dell OptiPlex GX 110 with a T1 connection. Strange thing is, slower computers seem to run Javascript faster.
"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
Sheesh.
Sorry but IMHO this series should have been dead and buried after Tim Burton left.
Maybe this new director can breath life back into this rotting corpse of a series (I've never seen PI) but I'm not holding my breath.
After all, Jean-Pierre Jeunet of Delicatessen and City of Lost Children fame (two of my most favorite movies) was flown in to breath new life back into the Alien series with Alien: Resurrection and that was the worse piece I've seen in a while. Kind of makes you depressed, don't it?
I would imagine many movie execs would like to have a say in how the movie should be made.
Don't give in to the dark side and go see Way of the Gun instead.
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Sure Miller has done some great comics, but he also wrote Robocop 3. So I'd say it would be wise not to get our hopes up that his classic work will be properly transported to the big screen. Scytle
The Pi soundtrack is just a compilation of so-called intelligent dance music from techno artists. You can find the soundtrack here.
If they use the same breed of music it would certainly make it more interesting to watch but no doubt there will be a push to use higher-profile artists in order to sell the soundtrack.
ian.
ian
Ain't that the shiznitz? The sequel will no doubt be based on Miller's seminal "Batman: Word!" or the less well-received "Batman: Keepin' it Real."
-- He's fantastic, made of plastic....
I attend San Diego ComicCon regularly. Back in '88 or '89 (when casting was complete and the movie was in production), Bob Kane, the inventor of Batman, did a panel. There was mass disappointment regarding Michael Keaton. And I admit I was a skeptic. So he talks on and on and someone asks him what he thinks about Keaton. There's laughter and boos, and then he replies. (I wish I could quote it, but that was a lot of years ago.)
He said to give Keaton a chance. Kane had been involved in the film, including working on the set, and was personally quite impressed with the job Keaton had been doing.
That was good enough for me. And when I saw the movie, I was more than satisfied. Keaton pulled off the psychological side of Batman perfectly: dark, brooding, almost borderline psycho.
Let's face it: there can be no ideal actor for Batman. HE'S A COMICBOOK CHARACTER! No one has that physique: that's why the rubber suit! You need an actor who can do a good job portraying Bruce Wayne who can also emote while he's wearing 40 lbs of rubber.
So what happened to the franchise? Jack Nicholson. Nothing bad about Jack's performance, it's just that the movie was written so that the star was The Joker, not The Dark Knight.
That started the trend. We then have THREE villain stars in the second movie with one totally unresolved plot, and again Batman is totally eclipsed. They should have removed Penguin and focused on Catwoman and Max Shreck. The third movie comes along AGAIN with two stars to eclipse Batman, the fourth movie stars Arnold. Give me a break!
Time after time the focus is on the bad guys, who invariably lose. Why do they bother calling the movies Batman? As for myself, I thought Arnold was the worst possible choice for Mr. Freeze as that villain had always been portrayed as a super scientist, not a muscle-bound Austrian. It had been rumored that Patrick Stewart might have played him: I would have been first in line to see that. As it was, I never saw #4. And I think I'm a better person for it.
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In general, the longer series go on, the worse the movies get. Look at the IMDB's Bottom 100 and see how many have 2, 3 4 or more in the title.
Of course, neither did I think it that good. It certainly didn't suck, but was simply mediocre. And having only seen it once, I followed the plot quite well. But to be honest, I waited until it came out on video, my local library purchased it and it made it out to my local library branch AND (this is likely why I followed the plot so well) I watched it with close captioning enabled.
Having a hearing impairment, I can't follow dialogue worth squat unless I turn the volume up loud enough to shake the house to its foundations.
I didn't find Jar Jar all that annoying either, but my guess is seeing his patois spelled out was less offensive to the asthete in me then hearing him speak.
Anyway, Phantom Menace was pretty predictable and George Lucas likes to hit people over the head with foreshadowing. I managed to pick the exact point in the film when things stopped going bad and got wrapped up for the 'feel good' ending. Not that this was a great accomplishment on my part, the ending was almost identical to the ending of Return of the Jedi.
However, taken for what it is, I rate the movie as being better written than the Matrix even though I found the Matrix much more enjoyable. The Phantom Menace at least captured my attention enough that I wouldn't mind a second viewing. I had fun watching the Matrix, but once was enough.
...probably listens to They Might Be Giants all day. Speaking of TMBG, anyone know what song has the lyrics "Everybody needs to have a rock to tie a string around"?
"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
I think 'they' should put out the Watchmen as a movie. Miller really churned out a winner with that series, and it would RULE on the screen.
As much as I was disappointed with Wolverine in the X-Men movie, that guy would make a righteous Rorschach. Think about it, Hollywood!
-Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music.
Hey, I'm as much of a geek as the next guy (note the slashdot user number), but I thought Pi was stupid. The math in that movie tried to look sophisticated but it wouldn't even fool your grandma. Plus the movie was dumb, and boring.
Sounds like he might be the perfect directory for the next Batman movie. The Batman movies were equally dumb, but of course on a much grander scale. We're talking the kind of stupidity that only hollywood can generate.
> Does anyone know who the villain[s] will be?
Bah! It's high time they made a movie that's actually _about_Batman_, rather than a movie about a bat-villian. I think Frank Miller's primary accomplishment was reminding us that the true antagonist in the Batman saga is not an individual psychopath but is, in fact, Gotham City itself. Batman can be so much more than a modern cowboys & indians (Bat-clan vs. Arkham inmates) cliche. To show Bruce coming to the realization that humanity needs a protector in order to prevent it from feeding on itself would be to restore the sociological implications of the story that Tim Burton & company so blatantly ignored.
_If_ the movie actually gets made, I hope it stays true to the comic and presents the Gotham City Police Department as the eventual antagonist.
That sounds like you're referring to the Elseworlds line (out-of-continuity stories placing some version of Batman in a different setting). The Batman Beyond series is set a few decades in the future (an elderly Bruce Wayne has reluctantly passed the mantle to Terry McGinnis).
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/. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
Star Wars was aimed at children. Fortunately, it involved themes that 'kids at heart' could get back in 1977. Hence, the whole world went nuts for the good/evil battle. Today we have kids/adults/teenagers that are so used to knock-offs of the original that we've become too jaded to see the good in it. Episode 1 was great for those younger than twelve who didn't yet have that 'I'm too cool for this' attitude.
As for the Matrix, what more do you want? A hacker-mentality movie with an absolute (and you have to agree) kick-ass soundtrack around a wonderful never-done-before plot and cool fight sequences (they should pay royalties to John Woo though..). The Matrix is a true tour-de-force on the senses, and the DVD set the standard (currently the best selling DVD of all time) of all DVDs to come after it. Its a real trip to go into the mindset that nothing you do means anything for two and a half hours.
Pi broke through the barriers of mathmatics being boring, intertwining the Jewish use of numbers as letters (and names) along with simple geometry and the stock market all in one. It worked on so many levels, and still manages to impress me on multiple viewings (the DVD kicks as too. Can you say TWO commentary tracks?). The ability to make such a low budget black and white film while still making it amazingly interesting and well written (could that ending BE any more shocking?), Pi is a great movie that most people have heard or expect too much out of. When you just take it for face value, the tempo and the mood and the pacing just take over.
I'm sorry if I pounced on your 'I'm to cool' attitude, but maybe you should go into films with lower expectations.
For all Frank Miller fans (you seem to be one) .. Robin was.. nevermind, wont spoil it for you if you want to read it :).
Get the Frank Miller leatherbound Batman book. It is probably 250 pages or more, of full page drawing with little one page poems and prose.
The most powerful tale of the dark knight I have ever seen.
Here's an entry for what I'm talking about:
Miller, Frank. The Complete Frank Miller Batman. 1st ed. Stamford: Longmeadow Press, 1989.
After reading this book, I'm sure that the effects and cinemtography of Pi will compliment and complete any movie bound version of a Frank Miller story. Of course
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Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
Aronofsky needed the money that bad, eh?
One of the many things I hate. thingsihate.org
But don't forget about Frank Miller! The Batman work he died was great...almost everything he's made I love. However, SinCity will always hold a special place in my heart:
Personally, I've never been happy with ANY of the casting choices for Batman. Keaton was okay, but let's face it, physically, not there. Classic Batman was always drawn very large and menacing. I can't even imagine who *would* be a good Batman. none of the "big" guys can be dark and booding enough (Shwartz- in "End of Days" did not, in my opinion, sufficiently pull-off dark and brooding - too much "Jolly Austrian" in him, see ya at Oktoberfest, Arnold).
Anyone else have any ideas? As long as we're fantasizing.
I imagine that since Pi was as much a psycho-spiritual thriller, and visually stunning in b/w, wonderful composition, that this Batman movie will be very visual, and psychological. I can dream.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
nt
have really ended up a disappointment so far. I'm hoping this is an improvement. I don't want to rant too much, but killing off every major villain was never a smart move on the part of the people behind the previous movies. Especially joker! One of the things that really impressed me with X-Men was that they left the possibility of all of the villains making returns in later movies. Batman was working towards only having scarecrow and arcade left to kill.
I'm on a chair.
Will the next Batman movie be called "Batman 3.14159..."?
but what about the stock market????
"Anyone that has ever gotten an idea based on any of my work and done something better with it-good for you."--J.Carmack
You all remember how dark the first movie was, and me as a kid I remember just being absolutely enthralled with the retro-modern look that Tim Burton created.
I would like to see them create live action based on *a lot* of plots. For instance I think the newer Batman Beyond has taken some cool dark themes (BM murdering Com. Gordon)... and I also remember some *brilliantly* dark stories written by guest authors in a book I read once (btw... anyone know what book that was? not a comic, but guest authors writing BM stories)...
However, if the story inferrs that this movie is going to be the beginning of the legacy, then I'm all for it... what a great timeless story... how this man came to be after the murder of his parents. It has inspired countless generations.
Technology. It's always been rather unrealistic. But the one thing I loved about PI was his convincing portrayal of fictional math. The stuff didn't make sense at all after some thought, but *damn* you sure thought it did.
Perhaps he will take a cool technology edge to BM?
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