Courtney Love could have been Harley Quinn, according screenwriter Mark Protosevich.
Back in 1997 Mark Protosevich was approached by Warner Bros. to work on a new Batman film. The film would have been titled Batman Unchained and was planned as a follow up to Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin.
Sadly, Schumacher’s film was…. Well… lets just say not the big hit the studio was expecting. Consequently, no sequels were made. At the time, however, Shumacher and Protosevich had already worked up a plot, title, and had potential actors lined up for Batman Unchained.
One performer who had expressed an interest in being in the film was Courney Love.
“I think she had heard about the possibility of Harley Quinn being in the new Batman and was thinking she would be good for it. But we didn’t really talk about that. We talked about a lot of other things. It was certainly one of the better lunches I’ve ever had in my career in show business.”
The film would have been about Batman conquering his fears and past demons, and would have featured Harley Quinn as a central villain. This version of Harley would have been a sadistic toymaker, who learns that the Joker is her father.
Other actors lined up to be in the ill-fated movie were George Clooney, Chris O’Donnell, and Jim Carey, reprising their roles as Batman, Robin, and the Riddler. Nic Cage was also in talks to play Scarecrow.
