Darren Aronofsky's unrealized projects
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.
In June 1998, it was reported in Variety that Aronofsky had struck a pay-or-play deal to direct the big-budget WWII sci-fi thriller Proteus as his next film, from a script he co-wrote with Lucas Sussman.
On July 30, 1999, Aronofsky was listed in an issue of Entertainment Weekly as one of the directors hoping to take the helm of Charlie Kaufman's screenplay Confessions of Dangerous Mind, based on the unauthorized autobiography of Chuck Barris.
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.
[8] Christian Bale, who later portrayed Batman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy was attached to star in the lead role.
[19][20] In July 2004, Aronofsky was hired by Paramount Pictures to direct a film adaptation of Watchmen, with David Hayter as writer (who wrote the script in October 2001)[21] and with Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin and Eric Watson as producers.
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.
Sixteen days later, it was announced during San Diego Comic-Con in 2008 that Aronofsky would direct the film with David Self attached to write it,[30] leaving the production of Paramount Pictures' The Fighter.
[35] In February 2010, it was announced that Angelina Jolie would star in the film adaptation of Ron Rash’s Serena, with Aronofsky set to direct and Chris Kyles' script.
[37] In April 2010, it was announced that Rachel Weisz would star as the title character, with Aronofsky set to direct Jackie, from Noah Oppenheim's script.
[49] On March 16, 2011, one day before announcing his departure from The Wolverine film, Aronofsky reported via Deadline Hollywood 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 World War II.
[52] On April 17, 2012, Aronofsky reported that he would direct an Unforgiven-style George Washington movie The General, from a script by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage with Paramount Pictures in negotiations to develop the film.
[53] On August 14, 2013, Deadline reported that Aronofsky was in talks to direct a film adaptation of Jason Matthews' spy novel Red Sparrow,[54] with Eric Warren Singer attached to write its script.
On June 4, 2014, Deadline reported that Aronofsky will produce the TV series based on Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy and potentially direct for HBO.
On July 17, 2017, Aronofsky reported that he will direct and produce a film from a Joe Epstein script, for Paramount Pictures,[59] which was revealed to be a courtroom drama that focuses on artificial intelligence.
