Joss Whedon pitched a Batman flick before Batman Begins:

“In my version, there was actually a new [villain], it wasn’t one of the classics — which is probably why they didn’t use it,” he laughed. “It was more of a ‘Hannibal Lector’ type — he was somebody already in Arkham Asylum that Bruce went and sort of studied with. It was a whole thing — I get very emotional about it, I still love the story. Maybe I’ll get to do it as a comic one day [ed. note: HINT HINT, DC Comics... ].”

O, originality, I can see why Hollywood didn’t go for the idea.  At least they woke up for the Dark Knight.  Perhaps this is the time to write DC Comics and ask them to let Joss Whedon tell this story in the comics.

(via Comic Book Movie)