The Batman

[GeneChing]

I copied the post above from our Celebrities studying martial arts thread. I figure we'll come back to this one as the project progresses.

Here's the Batman vs Superman thread.

[GeneChing]

‘The Batman’ To Fly In Summer 2021; Ben Affleck Passes The Torch To Next Generation Of Bruce Wayne
by Anthony D'Alessandro
January 30, 2019 4:33pm


Warner Bros

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. is dating their next rendition of Batman for June 25, 2021. This is the one that Matt Reeves has been attached to as writer and director. Ben Affleck, we hear, will not be donning the Dark Knight’s tights after playing the Caped Crusader in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Justice League and that’s because this movie will focus on a younger Bruce Wayne.

Reeves boarded Batman in February 2017, taking over for Affleck who was originally set to direct off a script he wrote with DC’s Geoff Johns. Affleck, we understand has a busy plate: As Deadline exclusively broke he is starring in and producing the feature adaptation of Kate Alice Marshall‘s novel I Am Still Alive, which Universal won in a competitive bidding scenario. The two-time Oscar winner is also starring in the Warner Bros.’ Gavin O’Connor drama Torrance. Affleck worked hard on The Batman story, but knew he wasn’t the right one for this particular version. A search is underway for a new Dark Knight.

The Batman will not be based on Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One comic which is one of Reeves’ favorites in the Caped Crusader canon.

Affleck tweeted about the news:

Ben Affleck
✔
@BenAffleck
Excited for #TheBatman in Summer 2021 and to see @MattReevesLA vision come to life.

Deadline Hollywood
✔
@DEADLINE
‘The Batman’ To Fly In Summer 2021; Ben Affleck Passes The Torch To Next Generation Of Bruce Wayne https://deadline.com/2019/01/the-bat...medium=twitter …


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I hope they don't re-do the creation myth again. We all know that. Just get on with it.

[GeneChing]

He'll always be Cedric to me.

MAY 31, 2019 8:03AM PT
Robert Pattinson Is Officially ‘The Batman’
By DAVE MCNARY
Film Reporter
@Variety_DMcNary


CREDIT: BRIAN ACH/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

Robert Pattinson is officially the new Batman.

Warner Bros. has closed a deal for the “Twilight” actor to play the Caped Crusader in “The Batman.”

Matt Reeves’ superhero tentpole hits theaters on June 25, 2021. Variety first reported on May 16 that Pattinson was in negotiations for the part. The studio confirmed on Friday that he had signed a deal.

Pre-production on the Warner Bros.-DC Comics pic is expected to start this summer. No official start date has been set for filming “The Batman.”

Reeves, the filmmaker behind the last two “Planet of the Apes” sequels, assumed “Batman” directing duties from Ben Affleck in January 2017. Reeves will produce “The Batman” with his “Planet of the Apes” collaborator Dylan Clark.

Affleck starred as Batman in two titles directed by Zack Snyder: 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and 2017’s “Justice League.” Both films received mixed reviews and were a disappointment for Warner Bros. in its efforts to compete with Marvel Studios in the superhero realm.

Pattinson became a star following the breakout success of the five-film “Twilight” franchise, in which he portrayed the vampire Edward Cullen opposite Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan.

Pattinson is starring with John David Washington in Christopher Nolan’s latest film, “Tenet,” set to open July 17, 2020. He toplines “The Lighthouse,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and appeared in Claire Denis’ “High Life,” “The King” for Netflix and “Waiting for the Barbarians.”

He is repped by WME, the Curtis Brown Group and 3 Arts Entertainment.

Which reminds me - whatever happened to Taylor Lautner?

[GeneChing]

Wonder if Pattinson will take up Keysi?

JUNE 04, 2019 6:00am PT by Borys Kit
"Quick" Debates and Secret Screen Tests: How Robert Pattinson Became Batman
Director Matt Reeves, who picked the 'Twilight' star over Nicholas Hoult, is said to have screen-tested both actors in a Batsuit from a previous Caped Crusader film.


Austin Hargrave
Robert Pattinson

Director Matt Reeves, who picked the 'Twilight' star over Nicholas Hoult, is said to have screen-tested both actors in a Batsuit from a previous Caped Crusader film.
Two weeks ago, a black jacket-clad Robert Pattinson faced flashbulbs and reporters at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his period drama, The Lighthouse. When one guest approached him at the reception and said, “I heard you were the new Batman,” he offered only a sly smile and stayed mum.

In reality, Pattinson was not the Caped Crusader…just yet. Hours after his Cannes duties in designer duds, he would be on a plane to Los Angeles to face perhaps the biggest test of his acting career: putting on a Batsuit for director Matt Reeves, who is casting The Batman.

That test was officially passed Friday, when Warner Bros. announced that Pattinson had won the role. The decision was the culmination of an intense process that insiders describe as surprisingly quick. As opposed to most superhero casting efforts, which often include far-and-wide searches and dozens of screen tests for the likes of Superman or more recently, Spider-Man, the Batman process was notably smooth.

“It was quick,” says one Warners insider. “Quicker than normal.”

Reeves, who was hired to write and direct a new Batman movie in February 2017, was envisioning actors while penning the script, according to sources familiar with the filmmaker’s thinking. It helped that this new Batman needed to conform to a defined age bracket. He is written as around 30 years old, and the story is neither another rehashing of his origin nor the tale of a seasoned crimefighter ruling Gotham City. He is Bruce Wayne still trying to find his footing on his way to becoming the genius detective.

This, of course, eliminated Ben Affleck, as THR first reported back in July 2017. (Affleck and Warner Bros. denied the recasting at the time because the actor, who had played the role in Batman v Superman and Justice League, was to have headlined his own stand-alone movie that was sidelined when the studio began rethinking its superhero strategy.)

Reeves is said to have considered Pattinson, 33, early on in the process, says one source, even though no outreach was made. Reeves didn’t even know if the actor wanted the part. Since Pattinson shot to fame as a heartthrob vampire in the Twilight films, he has built a solid résumé in smaller, well-reviewed independent films like Good Time and Maps to the Stars. He has assiduously avoided big studio franchise films.

But that fact actually made him more attractive to Reeves and the executive team at Warner Bros. Specifically, Pattinson has not yet appeared in a Marvel Studios movie, and name-brand actors not working for the DC Comics rival are becoming few and far between. While there are no contract provisions prohibiting Marvel actors from appearing in DC/Warner Bros. movies and vice versa, execs believe that cross-pollination dilutes both brands and can cause confusion for audiences, especially from a marketing point of view.

Nicholas Hoult, 29, who became Pattinson’s chief rival later in the process, had been appearing as Hank McCoy, aka the Beast, in the X-Men movies. But Warners execs didn’t disqualify him because the X-Men flicks are not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, are ensemble in nature and Hoult spent large chunks of those movies unrecognizable as a furry blue mutant.

Reeves is said to have spent hours poring over the two actors’ work and met with them in April. Pattinson has far more name recognition than Hoult, but it was his work in Good Time and High Life, among others, that Reeves kept on coming back to. Hoult, too, had impressed the deliberate filmmaker, known for his thought-provoking work on the Planet of the Apes franchise, with The Favourite this winter.

The two actors in short order became the only contenders, and during the week of May 20, when Pattinson flew in from Cannes, both shot screen tests in costume on the Burbank lot. Each had a pre-negotiated deal in place, ready to go into effect for whoever had the final contingency lifted, the screen test.

Pattinson and Hoult put on a suit from a previous Batman movie, as has become customary in the Bat-test process. (Christian Bale, before landing Batman Begins, performed his test in the suit used by Val Kilmer in 1995’s Batman Forever, for instance.) Did they embody the character? How did their eyes look and act? Is there a specialness to them? Those were the questions Reeves and the studio wanted answered.

“(Reeves) wanted very specific things,” says one insider. “He knew what he was looking for.”

Reeves and Warners execs took the week after Memorial Day to deliberate their choices, and by Thursday night, made the calls to the actors. The Batman who would lead the studio into the 2020s had been found.

Pattinson now moves on to the next stage: getting fitted for his own Batsuit, and training for a shoot that will likely take place in early 2020.

NOT 'another rehashing of his origin' yay

[GeneChing]

Ya know how sometimes there's an actor that you just can not stand. That's Jonah Hill for me. I don't know why. He just bugs me.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 3:11PM PT
‘The Batman’: Jonah Hill Eyed for Secret Role Opposite Robert Pattinson
By JUSTIN KROLL
Film Reporter
@https://twitter.com/krolljvar


CREDIT: ADAM BERRY/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
Robert Pattinson’s Batman might have found his first co-star.

Sources tell Variety that Jonah Hill is in talks to join Pattinson in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman.” Insiders also say Jeffrey Wright is in talks to play Commissioner Gordon.

According to sources, producers had long wanted Hill for the project, but casting decisions were put on hold until the role of Batman was filled. The deal hasn’t closed and sources say it could still fall apart, but both sides are engaging on Hill joining. As for who Hill is playing, that’s still being worked out as well, but sources say he’s being eyed for a villain role.

Warner Bros. and Hill and Wright’s reps could not be reached for comment.

Pre-production on the Warner Bros.-DC Comics movie is expected to start this summer. No official production start date has been set, although insiders tell Variety that filming could start in late 2019 or early 2020.

Reeves, the filmmaker behind the last two “Planet of the Apes” sequels, assumed “Batman” directing duties from Ben Affleck in January 2017 and has been developing the elusive project ever since. Affleck was in talks to depart his role as Batman following “Justice League,” allowing Reeves to pick his own Bruce Wayne. Reeves’ “Planet of the Apes” collaborator Dylan Clark is also attached as producer.

Hill starred opposite Emma Stone in Netflix’s sci-fi series “Maniac.” The actor has also moved behind the camera in recent years, taking on his first directing job, “Mid90s,” which bowed last fall, before returning to the big screen in Matthew McConaughey’s latest film “Beach Bum.”

Wright was most recently seen in WB’s “The Goldfinch” and stars in HBO’s “Westworld.”

Hill is repped by WME and LBI Entertainment.

[@PLUGO]

By Anthony D'Alessandro

Warner Bros. new The Batman movie has found its Selina Kyle aka Catwoman in Big Little Lies star Zoe Kravitz. Her deal is official. The film directed by Matt Reeves comes out on June 25, 2021.

Kravitz joins Robert Pattinson who has the title role, Jeffrey Wright who is playing Commissioner Gordon and Jonah Hill who is in talks for a villain role.

The actress follows in the path of such great big screen performers who’ve worn the Catwoman black leather suit as Michelle Pfeiffer, Anne Hathaway and Halle Berry, the latter who starred in a Warner Bros. standalone pic with the villain’s name. On the Gotham TV series, Kyle was played by Cameron Bicondova, and going way back to The Batman 1960s series, those who meowed included Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, and Eartha Kitt. The character, whose choice of weapon is a bullwhip, made her first appearance as “The Cat” in Batman #1 in the spring of 1940 and is known as having a complex love-hate relationship with the Dark Knight.

Kravitz boasts a big resume with feature credits that include Mad Max Fury Road, the Fantastic Beasts franchise, the Divergent franchise, X-Men: First Class, and the The Lego Batman Movie in which she played…yes, Catwoman (and all Batman fans know who Kyle is). Kravitz’s TV credits include Hulu’s High Fidelity, Big Little Lies as Bonnie Carlson, the woman with a guilty conscience and Showtime’s Californication. Kravitz has been performing music since she was 16, most recently fronting the band Lolawolf which released the album Calm Down in 2014. Last year, she was featured on the Janelle Monae song “Screwed” on the latter’s album Dirty Computer. She was also featured on “Anti-Social Smokers Club” on Rae Sremmurd’s third album SR3MM.

Mattson Tomlin and Reeves co-wrote the script for The Batman. Dylan Clark and Reeves produce. Michael E. Uslan is EP. Production begins in January in London, UK.