After a few weeks of ups and downs involving personnel changes behind the camera, it seems like The Batman is getting back on track. With Ben Affleck now out of the director’s chair and concentrating mostly on inhabiting the role of the Dark Knight, a respected filmmaker in Matt Reeves has taken his place before the seat even had time to cool. That’s not too surprising though, considering that this character has been and will remain a top priority for Warner Bros.
In the time since, there have been two major points of speculation: When the movie will start shooting and when the release date will be. Not long ago, Joe Manganiello, Deathstroke himself, said they were aiming for cameras to start rolling sometime in the spring, but one has to take into account that minor delays are a very real possibility when a new director boards a project and may want to add their own flourishes to the story, especially if reports saying Reeves has creative control are to be believed.
Recently, Robert Irvine Magazine sat down with Manganiello and asked if he knew the latest about when principal photography will commence as well as supposed script troubles, to which he had this to say:
“Last year, I said May and that was my understanding. It depends. They have big plans for this movie. Whether or not we start exactly on that date or in June, whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. Here’s the thing: The creative process needs to be respected and no one involved in this film wants to make anything less than an unbelievable film, a legendary film. The movie will start shooting whenever those pieces are in place and we know this is gonna be something that we’re proud of. What we’re not gonna do is be backed into a start date, scrambling to get something off the ground just to get it off the ground.
Everyone involved wants to make this the best film possible, so that’s really what it’s about. It’s funny how the media likes to run with, ‘Oh there’s trouble!’ ‘Oh, the script needs to be revised!’ They’re drama queens. There’s a creative process, and everyone on the cast and crew wants to make this the best movie possible. So that’s what we’re gonna do. When we start shooting it, we’ll start shooting it. It will be soon, I can say that. Here’s the thing: No one wants to create that superhero movie that’s polarizing to fans and critics. Rest assured, we’re gonna do this thing right.”
Let’s just hope the studio executives also see it that way. There’s no denying that Manganiello is absolutely right and those involved do need to make this the best film possible, lest the Batman movie franchise endure another near-fatal blow and be forced into a hibernation period not unlike the one that separated Batman & Robin and Batman Begins.
On the other hand, this is a high priority as I said earlier, no matter how many other DC movies WB have cooking. The fact of the matter is that they can’t sit on this idea for too long and have to get it out the door at some point. Honestly, 2019 seems like a perfectly reasonable time to premiere The Batman, doubly so because it will mark the 30th anniversary of Tim Burton’s Batman, a flick who many credit as changing public perceptions of comic book movies and what was expected of a summer tentpole.