The Batman, the upcoming DC movie from writer/director Matt Reeves, has a story but its script is still in the planning stages. The film is slated to be a solo adventure for Gotham’s Dark Knight and could kick off a new trilogy of films centered on the iconic Caped Crusader, if successful enough at the box office.
Reeves, who curried favor in Hollywood with his Planet of the Apes movies, was set as the director of The Batman almost a year ago, in February of 2017. Reeves' vision for the Batman solo film has been described as a “detective version” of the character, inspired by the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock. That would make the movie a change of pace from many of the previous live-action iterations of the Batman character, if accurate.
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This latest update about The Batman’s status comes via Jeff Goldsmith’s podcast, The Q&A With Jeff Goldsmith. In an interview with Goldsmith that was released at the end of December, Reeves described his progress with the film’s script, saying “I am outlining. I have the story worked out, and I am outlining.”
In the process of getting a film made, outlining is done before work begins on the script itself, to give the studio an idea of the film’s structure and to give the screenwriter an outline to work from going forward. If Reeves is still at the outlining stage, this means it will be a while before a script is fully finished, a cast is assembled, and production dates are locked down. Those rumors that The Batman's production will start in the summer of 2018 are starting to look a bit optimistic.
However, although this update is something of a bummer for eager fans that want to see the film, it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. It was already clear that the movie was in its early days of pre-production, due to the fact that nobody is even sure if Ben Affleck will appear in it. The last anyone heard, Affleck was “contemplating” reprising his role, and Reeves was reportedly eyeing up a potential alternative Batman actor.
On top of that, Reeves has just signed a deal with Netflix, giving the streaming service first dibs on films he produces with through his production company. Reeves seems to have multiple irons in the fire, and Affleck will need to make up his mind before production can begin on The Batman. Additionally, Warner Bros hasn’t announced a release date for The Batman yet, so Reeves doesn’t need to rush his filmmaking process. Bat-fans around the globe will just have to wait patiently while this exciting movie inches closer to becoming a reality.
MORE: 15 Actors That Could Replace Ben Affleck as Batman
Stay tuned to Screen Rant for all the latest updates on The Batman.
Source: Jeff Goldsmith [h/t Reddit]
