Tag: The Batman

Posted on in Film News

Second Round of Shutdowns In The UK and Elsewhere Could Have A Huge Impact On Hollywood’s Recovery

Movie theaters around the globe are trying to recover from the last couple of months but it looks like they could be closing again in multiple countries sooner than expected. The United Kingdom and Canada are currently seeing spikes of new cases of Coronavirus that has led to new restrictions along with promises from governments that a second national shutdown isn’t off the table if things don’t improve. 

New cases in the United Kingdom could hit as high as 50,000 per day by mid-October, which would be more than the United States is currently seeing as September 20th numbers were 34,586. The UK’s numbers on Monday were reportedly 4,368, a steady increase going the wrong way as the numbers have been doubling every seven days. The idea is to prevent 200+ deaths per day. 

Spain has already instituted restrictions on Madrid just months after European countries eased restrictions back in July. The continent is now seeing rises just like the UK with Spain seeing 31, 428 new cases since Friday. 

France also hit 13,000 new cases on Saturday and 10,569 on Sunday. 

Not the direction you want to see when there are predictions of a massive second wave in the fall and winter. 

The film industry has seemingly shrugged off the lackluster domestic returns thinking that international box office numbers will keep studios afloat. However, if places like the UK, Europe, and Canada shut down theaters again a massive movie like No Time To Die might lose a lot of money and end up hurting Hollywood’s recovery. 

The United Kingdom is also trying bounce-back concerning film production with large studio films such as The Batman, Fantastic Beasts 3, and Mission: Impossible 7-8 said to be currently filming. A shutdown could see those shoots placed on pause again if the government suddenly decides it’s not a good idea while the country is seeing significant COVID-19 spikes. Robert Pattinson had reportedly tested positive for Coronavirus despite the strict safety precautions promoted ahead of the production resuming in London. 

Other projects expected to shoot in the United Kingdom soon include Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness (Longcross Studios), Ant-Man 3 (Pinewood Studios UK), The Flash (Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden), and Marvel’s Moon Knight series. Some of these shoots could see hiccups in the pre-production/prep stages if not massive filming delays if there is a prolonged shutdown. 

Dwayne Johnson and his family tested positive for COVID-19, he’s already back on the set of Netflix’s Red Notice in Atlanta, Georgia. Filming on The Falcon & The Winter Soldier has also resumed in Atlanta as well with expectations that Loki and other shows will begin there soon. 

It seems extremely irresponsible on the part of studios to chug along like nothing is wrong given that the state of Georgia with a population of 3.7 million has more new cases of COVID-19 than the entire country of Canada that has a population of 37.4 million, the latter on the cusp of greenlighting a second shutdown that could see productions in Toronto, Montreal, and even Vancouver stop entirely again. Not to mention, pulling down theater ticket sales as Canadian box office dollars are included in the domestic cumes.  

We’ll have to see the numbers can be turned around without national shutdowns but it doesn’t seem like it can be avoided at this point. 

Posted on in Film News

‘The Batman’ Resumes Production In UK – Unknown If Robert Pattinson Has Returned To Work

After various British outlets have reported that The Batman has resumed production on The Batman, Deadline claims they have confirmation from Warner Bros. this indeed correct but couldn’t get any comments about Robert Pattinson’s health status and if he’s returned to the set after testing positive for COVID-19.

Warner Bros has confirmed that The Batman is back up and running. This comes two weeks after the production shut down after star Robert Pattinson tested positive for COVID-19. No word yet if Pattinson is back on set at Warner Bros Leavesden as the studio doesn’t comment on staffers’ personal status.

Hopefully, Warner Bros. will try to keep cast and crew safe as the United Kingdom is experiencing a rise of new COVID-19 cases and has seen a return of various restrictions, which could easily lead to another shutdown.

From Warner Bros. Pictures comes “The Batman,” with director Matt Reeves (the “Planet of the Apes” films) at the helm and with Robert Pattinson (“Tenet,” “The Lighthouse,” “Good Time”) starring as Gotham City’s vigilante detective, Batman, and billionaire Bruce Wayne.

Also in the star-studded ensemble as Gotham’s famous and infamous cast of characters are Zoë Kravitz (“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”) as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano (“Love & Mercy,” “12 Years a Slave”) as Edward Nashton; Jeffrey Wright (the “Hunger Games” films) as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro (the “Transformers” films) as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard (“The Magnificent Seven,” “Black Mass”) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Barry Keoghan (“Dunkirk”) as Officer Stanley Merkel; Jayme Lawson (“Farewell Amor”) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (the “Planet of the Apes” films, “Black Panther”) as Alfred; and Colin Farrell (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” “Dumbo”) as Oswald Cobblepot.

Warner Bros. had given the film a release date of October 1st, 2021.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘The Batman’ Screenwriter Mattson Tomlin To Direct Android Uprising Flick ‘Mother/ Android’ Starring Chloe Grace Moretz – Matt Reeves To Produce

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that screenwriter Mattson Tomlin will be making his feature film directorial debut with an original science fiction thriller titled Mother/ Android for Miramax that has Chloe Grace Mortez attached to star as lead character Georgia. 

Tomlin also penned the film. 

Chloe Grace Moretz is set to star in the Miramax project as Georgia who, with her boyfriend Sam, goes on a treacherous journey to escape their country, which is caught in an unexpected war with artificial intelligence. Days away from the arrival of their first child, the couple must face No Man’s Land— a stronghold of the android uprising, in hopes of reaching safety before giving birth.

Matt Reeves, who directed Chloe in the horror remake Let Me In and co-wrote The Batman with Tomlin will be producing the project via his production company 6th & Idaho. 

Tomlin was behind the recent Netflix film Project Power and is also currently working on a Mega Man film. 

The young actress had been previously rumored for the lead role in Len Wiseman’s John Wick spinoff Ballerina but has yet to be confirmed. 

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

Robert Pattinson Reportedly Tests Positive For COVID-19 Halting Production On ‘The Batman’

Deadline recently confirmed a Daily Mail story that a crew member working on The Batman has tested positive placing the production on hiatus again.

Even more shocking is that Vanity Fair reports the person who tested positive is actually their lead star Robert Pattinson, who is playing Bruce Wayne aka Batman in the reboot.

Robert Pattinson has tested positive for the coronavirus, causing filming of The Batman to be halted just days after the superhero drama resumed work at studios outside of London.

This certainly puts into question the prevention tools the film industry has put so much faith in during the return to productions in the United Kingdom. I’m starting to think that if Pattinson can’t be protected others are just as open to infection, if not more.

Hopefully, Robert and others on the film remain in good health and spirits.

This news comes a day after action star Dwayne Johnson revealed himself and his family, including his two young daughters had tested positive for COVID-19 as well. Johnson revealed this on Instagram while reiterating how important wearing a mask is.

The Batman had previously stopped production back in March alongside a bulk of projects filming in England and had only recently started filming again.

Warner Bros. is coming off massive buzz for film after the release of the teaser trailer that spread like wildfire online.

SOURCE: VANITY FAIR

Posted on in Film News

Scott Derrickson Teases Remaking John Carpenter’s ‘They Live’ – Matt Reeves Had Been Previously Attached To Reboot It For Universal

Scott Derrickson Teases Remaking John Carpenter’s ‘They Live’ – Matt Reeves Almost Made A Reboot Of The Film For Universal 

Yesterday there was an update that John Carpenter and Blumhouse would be working together on an upcoming remake of The Thing based on the lost manuscript Frozen Hell, the longer original version of Who Goes There? written by John W. Campbell.

It was interesting to see another John Carpenter remake being brought-up by Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson. He says his kids are trying to convince him to remake the 1988 film They Live starring Roddy Piper and Kieth David. The film was a political satire covering classism wrapped around an alien invasion action film.

They Live has seen a newfound relevancy given what is currently going on in the United States with violence and misinformation being used to pacify citizens questioning authority, the system, and current leadership. It was a direct product and commentary of the Ronald Reagan era from Carpenter.

THEY LIVE – Nada (Roddy Piper), a wanderer without meaning in his life, discovers a pair of sunglasses capable of showing the world the way it truly is. As he walks the streets of Los Angeles, Nada notices that both the media and the government are comprised of subliminal messages meant to keep the population subdued and that most of the social elite are skull-faced aliens bent on world domination. With this shocking discovery, Nada fights to free humanity from the mind-controlling aliens.

Scott recently exited Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness and is now attached to make a sequel to Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. 

Like The Thing, They Live was an adaptation of an existing science fiction story turned into a screenplay by John Carpenter. In the case of They Live, it was loosely based on Ray Nelson’s short story Eight O’Clock In The Morning. 

While we’re not sure of any active plans for a reboot, there have been attempts in the past with Universal Pictures hiring Matt Reeves in 2011 to both write and direct the project. Reeves seemingly being hired after he successfully did an English remake of the Swedish vampire film Let The Right One In with his version Let Me In. 

Of course, Reeves ended up making Dawn of The Planet of The Apes and War For The Planet of The Apes for 20th Century Fox instead of tackling a They Live remake for Universal Pictures. He’s currently in production on The Batman reboot in England which recently dropped an impressive teaser trailer cobbled together with footage from a shoot that was only 25-30% complete when it was placed on hiatus due to the pandemic. 

It doesn’t seem like Reeves is in any position to return to the They Live reboot given that he’s been talking about complete a Batman trilogy with Robert Pattinson’s incarnation of the DC Comics hero. 

There is a strong chance that Universal, Blumhouse, and John Carpenter could eventually make a deal for They Live after reviving Halloween and is expected to remake The Thing as well. 

SOURCE: SCOTT DERRICKSON

Posted on in Television News

DC FANDOME: Matt Reeves Says His ‘Gotham PD’ Series Takes Place During Batman’s Year One

Back in July, it was announced HBO Max would be developing a series spinoff of Matt Reeves’ The Batman focusing on the Gotham City Police Department with writer and executive producer Terence Winter on board. Winter’s credits include The Sopranos, Wolf of Wall Street, and Boardwalk Empire. 

Here is that official press release. 

HBO Max announced today that it has given a series commitment to an original DC drama set in the Gotham City police department from The Batman filmmaker Matt Reeves, Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter, The Batman producer Dylan Clark, and Warner Bros. Television. The groundbreaking television series to be written by Winter is set in the world Reeves is creating for The Batman feature film and will build upon the motion picture’s examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City, ultimately launching a new Batman universe across multiple platforms. The series provides an unprecedented opportunity to extend the world established in the movie and further explore the myriad of compelling and complex characters of Gotham. This marks the first television project for Reeves under his recently announced overall deal with the Warner Bros. Television Group.

Matt revealed a small detail about the series during DC FanDome yesterday stating the show takes place during Batman’s first year as the film is set in his second year. 

REEVES: “The idea of this story was a story in which Gotham, which has this depth of corruption, and the idea that we could do a series that is going deeper into an aspect of it, which in this case is the corrupt police department, the corrupt inner workings of the city. And the way we’re gonna do this series. Terence Winter is just an incredible writer, so the idea that we got him to do this, just is literally a dream. The idea is, we go back to year one, and year one is the beginning of the first emergence, the first appearance of this masked vigilante that starts to unsettle the city, and you start to see the story through the POV of these corrupt cops, and one in particular. And the story is actually a battle for his soul.”

“He’s a cop over generations and the history of corruption in Gotham is enormous and goes back many years, and the story is like, as you realize that there’s this myth-building in the background, you’re actually in a new place where you’ve never seen these characters before – some of them we’ll touch on that you may have seen in the comics, but others are totally new. Then you can go down an avenue and go into detail that you couldn’t do in a movie, and to go into these rich places and meet entirely new characters that Terence is going to create.”

This means there is a strong chance that cast members such as Jeffrey Wright (Jim Gordon) and newly announced addition Barry Keoghan (Officer Stanley Merkel) could have reoccurring roles in the HBO Max show.

Teaser footage from The Batman establishes a much more grounded take on the caped crusader that explains why someone like Winter would get involved with a show set within a comic book universe. Reeves also talked about how much corruption is in Gotham City that will be explored in The Batman taking cues from the 1970s thriller Chinatown. 

The Batman will be released on October 1st, 2021. 

SOURCE: DC FANDOME

Posted on in Film News

Warner Bros. Announces ‘Dunkirk’ Actor Barry Keoghan Will Play Officer Stanely Merkel In ‘The Batman’

Warner Bros. has revealed a new casting addition to Matt Reeves’ The Batman after the stunning new teaser was dropped during yesterday’s DC FanDome, which seemingly includes our first glimpses of Paul Dano as The Riddler and Colin Farrell in heavy makeup as The Penguin.

Below is an updated cast list for the film posted by Warner Bros. on their official YouTube channel alongside the teaser trailer from last night it.

There is a new name mentioned as Irish actor Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk, Chernobyl, Eternals) will play Officer Stanley Merkel.

Also in the star-studded ensemble as Gotham’s famous and infamous cast of characters are Zoë Kravitz (“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”) as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano (“Love & Mercy,” “12 Years a Slave”) as Edward Nashton; Jeffrey Wright (the “Hunger Games” films) as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro (the “Transformers” films) as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard (“The Magnificent Seven,” “Black Mass”) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Barry Keoghan (“Dunkirk”) as Officer Stanley Merkel; Jayme Lawson (“Farewell Amor”) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (the “Planet of the Apes” films, “Black Panther”) as Alfred; and Colin Farrell (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” “Dumbo”) as Oswald Cobblepot.

Barry most recently worked with Marvel Studios on their latest franchise Eternals.

The Batman is set to be released on Oct 1st, 2021.

SOURCE: WARNER BROS.

Posted on in Film News

DC FANDOME: First Teaser Trailer For ‘The Batman’ Drops – Focuses On A String of Murders and Corruption In Gotham

A first teaser trailer was released for Matt Reeves’ The Batman.

Warner Bros. also released these three images just before the panel.

The cast led by Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne aka Batman also includes Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano as Edward Nashton aka The Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as mayoral candidate Bella Reál, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin.

Filming is expected to resume next month at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Watford, England.

The Batman is set to be released on October 1st, 2021.

SOURCE: DC FANDOME

Posted on in Film News

Ben Affleck Reportedly Reprising Batman Role For ‘The Flash’

Vanity Fair reports that actor Ben Affleck will be returning as Batman for the upcoming Flash film as he agreed to to join the film’s cast this week.

Director Andy Muschietti confirmed the news and gave the following quote.

MUSCHIETTI: “He’s a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie. The interaction and relationship between Barry and Affleck’s Wayne will bring an emotional level that we haven’t seen before. It’s Barry’s movie, it’s Barry’s story, but their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that’s one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That’s where the Affleck Batman kicks in.”

They also add that Michael Keaton is still part of of the film in a “substantial role”.

Affleck left the role as the solo Batman film changed over to Matt Reeves and new actor Robert Pattinson.

It’ll be interesting to see how they tackle two on-screen Batmans.

SOURCE: VANITY FAIR

Posted on in Film News

‘The Batman’ Might Resume Production Next Month In The UK – DC FanDome To Include New Footage

In a brief report from Variety they state that Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson will resume production on The Batman starting early next month at Warner Bros. Studios Leavedsen.

Although, they point out the studio hasn’t confirmed the restart.

Shooting on the Batman reboot was taking place in England and Scotland when the pandemic led to a pause in global film production.

The cast led by Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne aka Batman also includes Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano as Edward Nashton aka The Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as mayoral candidate Bella Reál, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin.

This will be the first installment in a new trilogy.

Director Matt Reeves also revealed in a new promo video for DC FanDome they will be showing fans new footage from the film, as we’ve only had some quick test footage of the suit released officially previously.

The Batman‘s new release date is set for October 1st, 2021.

SOURCE: VARIETY & WARNERMEDIA