Before Batman began... we almost got Batman: Year One!

After 1997's Batman & Robin was released to negative reviews, fan disappointment, and mediocre box office, it was clear execs at Warner Bros. thought it was time to re-imagine Batman. The studio developed a variety of Bat-projects, most of which never made it past the script phase, and one of the most intriguing of these would-be Batman movies was surely Darren Aronofsky and Frank Miller's Batman: Year One, which was conceived as a violent, low-budget, R-rated revision of the Dark Knight's legend -- more French Connection and Taxi Driver than superhero adventure.

IGN has traced the history of this film, going back to talk to some of the key players involved, like the legendary Frank Miller and Warner Bros. President Worldwide Production at the time, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, in order to unmask the true story of the Batman: Year One movie that almost was!

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