Newly recovered footage has revealed another canceled Batman video game tied directly to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy.
The game, internally known as Project Apollo, was in development at Monolith Productions and has now resurfaced online after being recovered from deleted internal files dating back to 2009–2010. The footage was unearthed by archivist MrTalida and uploaded to the Internet Archive, expanding on details first reported in 2019.
The newly surfaced material includes in-engine tests and early gameplay experiments focused on sound design, music cues, and traversal mechanics. The footage also shows the Tumbler, the Batmobile featured in Nolan’s films, driving through large sections of Gotham City. Like later Batman titles, the canceled project was designed as an open-world experience, allowing players to traverse Gotham by gliding, grappling, and driving.
According to historical reporting, Project Apollo spent roughly 18 months in development before being canceled. The decision reportedly stemmed from Warner Bros. Games requiring Christopher Nolan’s approval for any game directly tied to his films—approval that was reportedly never granted.
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Monolith Productions would later pivot away from Batman entirely. The studio went on to develop Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, an open-world Lord of the Rings game that reused several concepts and systems originally built for Project Apollo.
Interestingly, Project Apollo wasn’t the only Dark Knight–related game to be scrapped. Earlier this month, storyboard images shared on Reddit (via Vice) showed a separate open-world Batman project being developed by Pandemic Studios Brisbane for EA.
That game was intended to launch alongside Nolan’s The Dark Knight in 2008 but was canceled months before release, with the studio eventually closing.
Most recently, another Batman game was shelved. A planned sequel to 2024’s Batman: Arkham Shadow—released exclusively on Meta Quest 3—was canceled, according to a report from Aftermath, which cited Meta’s VR studio closures and layoffs within Reality Labs as the primary cause.
Would you have liked to play an open-world Batman game set in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight universe? Let us know in the comments down below!
