When it comes to the comic book genre, Brendan Fraser and Darren Aronofsky have both experienced some well-publicized failures. In recent interviews with Variety, the two men—who are working together on the acclaimed independent drama "The Whale"—spoke candidly about their difficulties.
Around "Batgirl," Leslie Grace's costumed protagonist, Firefly, is a pyromaniac who Fraser spent months imitating in Glasgow, Scotland. That movie was slated to premiere on HBO Max, but it was cancelled as a result of the merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia, the parent company of the streaming service.
In a cover article for "The Whale," Fraser stated, "It's sad." "It doesn't foster trust between the studio and the filmmakers. Leslie Grace did a great job. She is a powerhouse and an excellent performer. Everything we shot was authentic, thrilling, and the complete opposite of something that was just computerised and green screen. At three in the morning, they drove firetrucks through Glasgow's downtown while brandishing flamethrowers. Although it had a large budget, it had only the bare minimum in terms of content.
The newly appointed executives of the organisation, now known as Warner Bros. Discovery, opted against investing $90 million in a movie that would stream for free. In addition, it seemed easier to take a tax write-off and put "Batgirl" on hold permanently because it wasn't considered commercially viable enough to be released in theatres. Fraser claimed that although the film's filmmakers, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, had created a rough edit, they were still making changes. He hasn't yet seen what they came up with.
Fraser declared, "I don't eat half-baked cake. He did give the filmmakers praise for what he saw when it was being made. He claimed, "Everything that Adil and Bilall shot seemed authentic and thrilling.
Aronofsky concurred that the cancellation of "Batgirl" had disappointed "all the fans. When movies don't get seen, I'm sad. But he also had difficulties when trying to stamp his personality on comic book stories. Batman: Year One, the critically acclaimed Dark Knight short tale by Frank Miller, was going to be adapted into a movie by Darren Aronofsky in the early 2000s.
Aronofsky recalls, "It was after 'Batman & Robin,' the Joel Schumacher film." "That had been a major issue at Warner Bros. back then, so I presented them a rated-R, condensed version of Batman's origin narrative. A superhero movie with a R rating was probably 10 to 15 years out of date with the current state of the industry.
Aronofsky and Miller collaborated on the script, which they presented to Warner Bros. in an early draught before they changed their minds.
Although it was only a first draught, he notes that it showed potential. The studio showed little interest. It was a pretty unique perspective.
Now, of course, R-rated and popular films like "Joker" and "Deadpool" are available. The business, it would appear, eventually embraced Aronofsky's ideas.
He comments, "I think it's amazing. "I used to ask why there weren't different kinds of comic book movies available. There are now. Our timing was simply off.
Aronofsky was also meant to direct "The Wolverine," which was released in 2013. The Thoku earthquake and tsunami, which happened shortly after he agreed to create the movie, however, delayed its development. The new director would be James Mangold.
Aronofsky claims that filming in Japan was crucial to him. "I believe the earthquake occurred a few months after I signed up to produce 'Wolverine,'" the author claims.
He hasn't given up hope of making a superhero movie in the future.
I didn't grow up reading comic books, but I did see a lot of big-budget movies, and I enjoy superhero movies, he claims. "If the appropriate chance presented itself, I would take it."
