Bryan Cranston, Ben McKenzie, Eliza Dushku and Katee Sackhoff will lend their voices to DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation’s “Batman: Year One,” an animated adaptation of the Frank Miller comic book, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu will co-direct the movie, with Tab Murphy adapting.
“Batman: Year One” is considered a milestone in superhero comicbookdom. Written by Miller (“300,” “Sin City”) and illustrated by Italian artist David Mazucchelli (who also teamed with Miller on “Daredevil: Born Again”), the four-issue series explores the gritty early days of the hero, as he teams with a mistrustful young Lieutenant Gordon to take on the Falcone crime family, and also crosses paths with an inexperienced Catwoman. In the story, Gordon is as much of the main protagonist as Bruce Wayne/Batman, as he adjusts to his new cop life in Gotham City and carries on an affair with a fellow officer behind the back of his pregnant wife.
McKenzie (“Southland”) is starring as Batman. Cranston (“Breaking Bad”) will supply the voice of Gordon, while Dushku (“Dollhouse”) will play Selina Kyle/Catwoman, and Sackhoff (“Battlestar Galactica”) will portray Detective Sarah Essen, Gordon’s love interest. Crime boss Carmine Falcone will be voiced by “Simpsons” vet Alex Rocco.
Although elements of the story were used in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins,” and “Black Swan” director Darren Aronofsky once worked with Miller to make a film version of the story, “Batman: Year One” has never been officially adapted.
Overseen by animation vet Bruce Timm (“Batman: The Animated Series,” “Justice League Unlimited”), the straight-to-DVD DC Universe Animated series has included recent titles “All Star Superman,” “Wonder Woman,” “Green Lantern: First Flight” and “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.”
“Batman: Year One” will be rated PG-13, and will be released in the Fall. It will premiere, however, at Comic-Con in July.
THR has two very cool pics here.
What other classic Batman tales should be adapted into animated films? “The Killing Joke”? “Hush”? “The Long Halloween”? “A Death in the Family”?