There are more movies being made every year than the year prior, and with so much offer, the landscape at the box office has inevitably changed. Oftentimes now movie theaters seem to favor some movies that promise to be fan favorites only to find them flopping, and movie studios are doing everything they can to ensure that they do not produce movies (especially those that cost a lot to make) that suffer that fate. One of these non-produced movies might be The Batman Part II, which is now rumored to be cancelled.
The Batman franchise has been one of the major moneymakers for both Warner Bros. and DC Studios for a while now. Millions of fans have flooded theaters to see the latest iteration of the franchise and give their opinions on the costumes, casting, plot point and any other minute that they can think of. As every other big franchise, its detractors love to hate watch it as much as its fans, and that has been the key to the success of multiple of these films.
But now the new Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II seems like it will never see the light of day, and many are feeling some kind of way.
The cancellation of the Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II
The news of the cancellation are not based on official information given out by any official source, anonymous or public, they came after news broke that Robert Pattinson would be joining Denis Villeneuve’s Dune 3. After the announcement, speculation quickly spread online suggesting that The Batman Part II had been quietly shelved by Warner Bros and the rumors gained traction due to ongoing delays in the film’s script, which director Matt Reeves and writer Mattson Tomlin were expected to finish by the end of last year. With no finalized screenplay in sight, doubts about the sequel’s future continued to grow.
However, in a recent interview with Deadline, Warner Bros. Pictures co-CEOs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy clarified the situation. They stated that the studio does not exercise significant control over The Batman Part II or other related DC projects, implying that development remains largely in the hands of the filmmakers and is still moving forward.
According to Pam Abdy, “We’re not in the weeds on the Batman stuff. It’s really James and Peter Safran who run DC.”
While these comments may have spurred uncertainty, fans of the franchise took it as good news as it still allowed them to dream of knowing what will happen beyond The Dark Knight’s second year in Gotham. Having said that, many are not pleased, as they feel like the company is choosing not to prioritize the movie and that it is their fault that the new installment may not happen or may not be as good due to corporate interference.
Executives disagree, with Adby confirming that the film is still in the works and that the delays are being taken in good spirits as they know that Matt Reeves will take his time to produce the best script and movie he possibly can. According to Adby “We have a bit of other collaboration with Matt Reeves, but Peter and James know he is a writer-directing auteur in his own right, and that it will come when he’s written his best Batman script and is ready.”
James Gunn, co-president of DC Studios, also took to Social Media to pint out that this rushing on the script was unfair on Reeves and that the timeline for the new movie was in line with other popular productions. “To be fair, a 5-year gap or more is fairly common in sequels. 7 years between Alien and Aliens. 14 years between Incredibles. 7 years between the first two Terminators. 13 years between Avatars. 36 years between Top Guns. And, of course, 6 years between Guardians Vol 2 and Vol. 3.”