Critics aren't quite sure what to make of Nicholas Winding Refn”s new film The Neon Demon, but it's safe to say he's got vision. And now he's apparently turned his sights to the DC Comics' character Batgirl. Could he make a live-action film happen?
The Danish director (who also did Bronson, Only God Forgives, and Drive) was speaking to Business Insider to promote The Neon Demon, which stars Elle Fanning, and spoke about how he once wanted to tackle DC's biggest female superhero:
But this isn't the first time the Danish filmmaker has wanted to make a movie with a strong female lead. After the release of his popular 2011 thriller “Drive,” Refn said he really wanted to make a Wonder Woman movie.
That's not going to happen quite yet. When Gal Gadot stars as the superhero in her standalone movie, out in the summer of 2017, Patty Jenkins (“Monster”) will have the reins.
But Refn still wants to make a superhero movie.
“God, I would love to make one, it would probably be great fun,” Refn told Business Insider this week. “I just don't know when it's going to happen. I very much enjoy my freedom creatively, but I also would love to make one of those big Hollywood films that costs a lot of money and has a lot of people running around with cell phones and all that insanity.”
So who besides Wonder Woman would Refn like to help bring to the big screen? “You know the one I want to do? I want to make Batgirl. Let's get Warner working on it.”
Sure! Why the hell not? I enjoyed Drive but felt it lacked story wise, and I've yet to see The Neon Demon (you can check out Drew McWeeny's review here), but mostly I just WANT A BLOODY BATGIRL MOVIE ALREADY (though I'd prefer a female director). When Warner Bros. was rebooting Superman and Batman in their most recent incarnations, I couldn't help but scream internally (and maybe externally) about how they should have been giving Batgirl and Supergirl a chance to hit it big in movies instead.
Batgirl has been portrayed in countless animated projects from Warner Bros. but just a few times in live action. Notable among them, the original Batgirl Yvonne Craig, who played Barbara Gordon in the '60s Batman television series. Alicia Silverstone played a Batgirl named Barbara Wilson in Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin in 1997 and Starship Troopers' Dina Meyer played Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle in the short-lived Birds of Prey television series from 2002.
Margot Robbie is spinning out her Suicide Squad character Harley Quinn (a fan-favorite) into her own film for Warner Bros., which is reportedly set to feature several other DC female characters, Batgirl among them. With that and Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman solo film, Warner is running circles around Marvel Entertainment in this particular department. Though it's taken both of them far too long to get the ball rolling already in my opinion.
Would you see a Refn Batgirl movie? What about Batwoman?
[via /Film]