Concept Artist Phil Bourassa has taken to Instagram to reveal that back in 2009, he was working on an animated adaptation of Alan Moore and Brian Bollan's Batman: The Killing Joke. The film was being developed by the legendary Bruce Timm however, Warner Bros. pulled the plug. Said Bourassa,---
"In 2009 I started working on an animated adaptation of The Killing Joke under the supervision of legendary Animation artist Bruce Timm. Two weeks into the project we were told to stop development because The Watchmen had under performed at the box office and WB had lost faith in R rated superhero movies. Happy to say that you guys are gonna finally get your animated Killing Joke adaptation in 2016. Apparently enough money has been made from superhero movies and adaptations of comics of every stripe that it now transcends the previously assumed limitations of the genre. It's a good time to be a comic geek!"
Fast forward seven years later and we have a "likely" R-rated Killing Joke film coming down the pipeline that will be directed by Bruce Timm protege Sam Liu ( Justice League: Gods and Monsters, Batman: Year One ). Liu is also directing Justice League vs. Teen Titans.
Check out some of Bourassa's concept art for the project below.