Darren Aronofsky's unrealized projects

The following is a list of unproduced Darren Aronofsky projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Darren Aronofsky has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects, fell in development hell or were cancelled.

1990s

Ronin

Eleven days after the release of Pi, his first film, Aronofsky signed a deal with New Line Cinema in July 1998 to direct a film adaptation of Frank Miller's Ronin comic book series.^[1] Frank Miller, the author of the comic book, was attached to write the script.^[2] However, the project never materialized and Aronofsky left it to direct Requiem for a Dream.

2000s

Sector 7

On May 24, 2000, Aronofsky was announced to direct a film adaptation of David Wiesner's Sector 7 for Nickelodeon Movies. Eric Watson was attached to produce the film. However, the project finally fell into development hell,^[3] and Aronofsky moved to other projects.

Batman: Year One

On September 21, 2000, Variety reported that Aronofsky had signed a deal with Warner Bros. to direct a fifth Batman film based on Frank Miller's acclaimed comic book Batman: Year One, with Miller attached to write the script, with Eric Watson attached to produce and with Aronofsky's frequent collaborator Matthew Libatique to work on it.^[4][5] The film was intended to be a reboot of the film series,^[6] after the failure of Batman & Robin in 1997, although Warner Bros. originally planned to release the film as a prequel of Tim Burton's Batman.^[7] Christian Bale, who later portrayed Batman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy was attached to star in the lead role.^[8] Gillian B. Loeb was supposed to be the main antaognist of the film, replacing Carmine Falcone as the head of Gotham City's mafia.^[9] Aronofsky also planned to film the movie in Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo, Uruguay.^[10] However, on June 30, 2002, Aronofsky and Miller finally left the project due other commitments.^[11] A reboot of the Batman film series was finally released in 2005 as Batman Begins and directed by Christopher Nolan.

Flicker

On January 28, 2003, Aronofsky was reported to direct a film adaptation of Theodore Roszak's novel Flicker.^[12][13] Fight Club screenwriter Jim Uhls was attached to write the script.^[14] However, on February 15, 2006, Variety reported that Aronofsky left the project and moved to Universal Studios.^[15]

The Fighter

On March 26, 2007, Aronofsky announced that he was attached to direct The Fighter, a biographical film based on the life of professional boxer Micky Ward.^[16] Scott Silver was attached to write the script.^[17] However, on July 25, 2008, Collider.com reported that Aronofsky left the project in favor of direct the RoboCop remake.^[18] The film was finally released in 2010 and directed by David O. Russell.

RoboCop

On July 9, 2008, Wayback Machine reported that MGM was in talks with Aronofsky to direct the long time planned RoboCop remake^[19] that was first announced in 2005. Sixteen days later, it was announced during the San Diego Comic-Con International 2008 that Aronofsky would direct the film with David Self attached to write it,^[20] leaving the production of Paramount Pictures' The Fighter.^[21] On June 12, 2009, it was reported that the film would be released in 2011.^[22] However, in July 2009, during the San Diego Comic-Con, MGM reported that the project was slowing down due scheduling conflicts with Aronofsky.^[23] Finally, on March 2, 2011, it was reported by Internet Movie Database that Brazilian director José Padilha would direct the film instead Aronofsky.^[24] The film was finally released in 2014 and directed by Padilha.

2010s

Superman

On September 28, 2010, MTV News reported that Aronofsky was in talks with Warner Bros. to direct a reboot of the Superman film series, after the not so good reception of Superman Returns in 2006.^[25] However, Aronofsky refused to direct it due his commitment with Wolverine 2.^[26] A reboot of the Superman film series was finally released in 2013 as Man of Steel and directed by Zack Snyder.

The Wolverine

On October 13, 2010, SuperHeroHype.com reported that Aronofsky was in talks with 20th Century Fox to direct Wolverine 2, the sixth entry of the X-Men film series that started with X-Men and the planned sequel of Gavin Hood's acclaimed film X-Men Origins: Wolverine,^[27] after X-Men director Bryan Singer turned down the offer of direct it in March 2010.^[28] Seven days later, Hugh Jackman confirmed via Vulture.com that Aronofsky would direct the film.^[29] On November 13, 2010, Aronofsky confirmed via Upprox that the film would be titled now The Wolverine.^[30] However, on March 17, 2011, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Aronofsky left the project because directing him would have meant that he had to leave his country for a long time and be away from his family.^[31] The film was finally released in 2013 and directed by James Mangold.

Hobgoblin

On March 16, 2011, one day before announcing his departure from The Wolverine film, Aronofsky reported via Deadline that he would direct the pilot of a planned TV series entitled Hobgoblin for HBO. The series would have focused on the adventures of a group of magicians and con artists who use their powers of deception to defeat Adolf Hitler during the World War II. Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon and Aeonofsky's wife Ayelet Waldman were attached to work on the project.^[32] However, Screen Crush reported on June 18, 2013 that Aronofsky was pulled out from the project.^[33]

Red Sparrow

On August 14, 2013, Deadline reported that Aronofsky was in talks to direct a film adaptation of Jason Matthews' spy novel Red Sparrow,^[34] with Eric Singer attached to write its script.^[35] However, The Hollywood Reporter later reported on January 16, 2014, that Aronofsky had abandoned the project.^[36] On June 9, 2014, it was announced that David Fincher would direct the film, although any release date was announced at the moment.^[37]

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