Nicolas Winding Refn expresses interest in directing the Batgirl film

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The past month has seen the release of Too Old to Die Young, Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn’s “13-hour movie” that premiered in full on Amazon Prime Video. Like most of his work, Too Old is an incredibly divisive experience, though a recent interview hints that Refn might be up for something a little less esoteric in the future.

Nicolas Winding Refn Interview Too Old To Die Young

In the above interview with Collider, Refn talks about what could be next after the ten-month (!!!) shoot and subsequent edit of Too Old to Die Young, and a certain Bat-Family member comes up.

A Batgirl film has been gestating at DC for awhile now, losing Joss Whedon last year and gaining Bumblebee writer Christina Hodson. Still in search of a director, could the project end up being Refn’s foray into comic book films?

Personally, I find the odds to be slim. While we’ve certainly seen arthouse auteurs branch out into more commercial, mainstream films, Refn’s notorious brutality and macho sensibilities seem like a hard sell for a character who would need to assert herself as a strong female presence. Furthermore Refn’s comments could be perceived as off-the-cuff or casual; the whims of an artist change with the wind, sometimes. 

Still, it’s an interesting thought to entertain. The way 2011’s Drive was born of a fusion between Refn’s stylish approach and a relatively-routine Hollywood script by Hossein Amini, perhaps a strong story by Hodson could benefit from Refn’s gritty approach. He’s an incredibly divisive filmmaker, but I’m a strong proponent of him and his work, and would love to see him work with the restraint of a major, established character.

Nicolas Winding Refn on ‘Too Old to Die Young’ & Why He Considers It a 13-Hour Film [Collider]