Despite other films delaying release dates and fears over the Omicron variant, director Matt Reeves has doubled down on The Batman's March release date. Reeves' take on the iconic DC Comics hero stars Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell. The Batman is currently slated for a theatrical release on March 4.
Starring Pattinson in the titular role, Reeves' long-awaited take on the Batman mythos has had a long, complex journey. Beginning as a project part of the DCEU, original plans for DC's first standalone Batman movie since 2012's The Dark Knight Rises would have seen Ben Affleck both direct and star in a film where he'd face Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke in a revenge-driven quest on the Caped Crusader. When Affleck stepped down in 2019, Reeves joined the project, casting Pattinson as the hero. However, amidst production delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Batman was delayed from its October 1, 2021 release date to March 4, 2022. While other studios are reconsidering upcoming release dates as the Omicron COVID variant spreads, Warner Bros. has been firm in committing to the current release, with Reeves himself doubling down on the date.
Taking to his personal Twitter, Reeves has been promoting the upcoming movie, interacting with fans and others involved in the film, such as composer Michael Giacchino and the IMAX Twitter account. Replying to a photo uploaded by the Nerdist Twitter account, IMAX responded with a gif of Pattinson's Batman in costume, commenting the March 4 release date while promoting IMAX screenings. Reeves then quote-tweeted IMAX's reply, responding with "S O O N", replacing the "O"s with Bat emojis. Check out Reeves' interaction below:
Click here to see Reeves' original post.
Concerns around The Batman's release date first arose in October 2021, as despite a number of films from their slate receiving theatrical releases, Marvel Studios delayed 5 MCU release dates. Major Marvel releases such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Marvels, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania were pushed from earlier release dates throughout 2022, to later dates in the year and into 2023. Other studios have followed in Marvel Studios' moves, with Sony delaying the release of Morbius from January 2022 to April. Most drastically, Lionsgate delayed the release of John Wick 4 by almost a year, delaying the film from its 2022 premiere to March 2024.
As one of the most anticipated films of 2022 and after suffering many delays already, Warner Bros. is still dedicated to The Batman's release date, with WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar firmly committing to the current date in a recent interview. Despite apprehension from others, the studio has also seen other releases be successful in the pandemic era of cinema releases, such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Scream, indicating audiences are willing to venture to theaters for huge releases. Though the box-office numbers of those releases may give the studio confidence, there is no guarantee that the current situation may change, meaning that The Batman's release strategy could change close to the time audiences are expected to see it in March.
Source: Matt Reeves
