It’s interesting to go from thinking we know so much about a movie, to realizing how little we actually do. If you’ve read the headline, it’s fairly clear that I’m talking about Matt Reeves’ The Batman. It’s been such a strange and tumultuous journey for this reboot.
After Batman v Superman did well at the box office and Ben Affleck was well-received, WB sort of pre-emptively went all-in on Batfleck for a solo Batman similar to the way they did for Zack Snyder. However, if you’ve been following the history, a straight path from A(ffleck) to B(atman) was never meant to be.
Despite both BvS and Suicide Squad doing well at the box office, both movies received lots of critical backlash. Therefore, the pressure on Batfleck to deliver a good solo Batman movie was becoming an insurmountable task for the writer/director/actor. In few interviews, Affleck has candidly remarked about fans and the pressure they exert. Coupled with several rumors being bandied about, the state of the Affleck-helmed Batman flick felt shaky.
Bye Batfleck, Hello Reeves
Finally, after months of speculation, Matt Reeves, of the modern Planet of the Apes franchise, stepped in to take over as writer/director, relieving our poor Batfleck. Mercifully, Reeves was given creative control.
Unfortunately, after that details have been quite scarce. The movie basically went into hiding following the abysmal critical and financial reception of Justice League in late 2017.
Reeves offered very few updates until August of 2018, where he said that he was currently working on the script. He speculated a “Spring or early summer” 2019 start date.
Well, with the movie biz being in constant flux, things may have changed. Well, at least according to this Hollywood Reporter journalist.
Each week, THR releases a newletter entitled Heatvision, where they discuss comics, movies, and video games. The newsletter seems to be a conversation between the staff, similar to a transcription of a podcast or something.
Rumor has it…
Borys Kit is amongst the journalists involved in the newsletter. The discussion of Matt Reeves’ Batman movie was brought up where he was asked his opinion of when we’ll be hearing who will play Batman following Batfleck’s departure. Kit shared an interesting tidbit as he was musing about when we could hear this news. While not an announcement, he shared his current knowledge regarding the situation: “The script is basically in, although Reeves will continue tweaking it and working on it. I’m hearing the studio wants to start shooting in November. So let’s say between now and then?”
While Kit doesn’t seem to provide any certain news, it’s fairly alarming that something like this wasn’t reported as a huge scoop or something considering the constant need for clickbait. However, it also proves just how uncertain it is that he sort of glanced over it without any further discussion, or even lead the newsletter with something that big. It’s also not entirely implausible either that principal photography would be delayed… I mean, there isn’t even a release date yet!
Personally, I’m okay with this. The more time that Reeves gets to revise and edit, the better the movie will turn out. While I want a solo Batman movie, I don’t want it to be rushed. Hopefully, WB gets that.
Please be aware that this is just hearsay at this point, as Kit himself never said it with any certainty. He seemed to have simply been passing on rumblings that he himself heard. As I said, the fact that THR hasn’t yet run the story as an exclusive indicates just how uncertain it is. So, for now this is most definitely a RUMOR and we all know rumors are kept fresh with a dash of salt. I would suggest sea salt.
Stay tuned to DKN for further updates.