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The Batman Part 2 Delayed a Year to 2027

Wonder Woman 1 also outgrossed it by about $40 million.

To be fair, I think the 176 minute runtime hurt it a bit. For certain people, that makes it less likely they’ll return for a second screening. I also think the Riddler’s visual appearance might have been another issue for marketing. Even the Nolan films had the villains stand out visually: Scarecrow with his mask that looks like the creepy child mask from The Orphanage (a Spanish horror film); Joker looking like, well, JOKER, and Bane with a redesign different from the comics but still visually distinct. Riddler in The Batman does not have a memorable visual look, granted it works for what the film is doing with its David Fincher-inspired style of story but it could have made people less excited if the threat didn’t really stand out in appearance.

I think Robert Pattinson’s casting also may have hurt it a bit. He’s well cast, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of people unfamiliar with his work outside of Twilight were doubting him. While people jumping to negative conclusions towards a casting in a Batman movie is hardly new, the thing is this was the first film of a stand alone series and the controversial pick was Batman himself.

With Nolan, he already established goodwill with Batman Begins, so when his at-the-time controversial casting of Ledger as Joker happened, plenty of people were willing to give it a chance even if they didn’t like the casting at first glance because Nolan had earned their trust. With Ben Affleck, the premise of Batman and Superman fighting was enough to draw in the fans even if some again weren’t sure about the casting. It was like Freddy vs. Jason, sure some of the F13 fans were upset that Kane Hodder wasn’t returning as Jason (as he is widely the fan favorite in the role), but they weren’t missing out on Jason and Freddy fighting regardless (and because a few smarties will point it out, yes Jason doesn’t talk, BUT plenty of fans prefer Kane’s build, body language, his positive input on certain scenes such as when he veto-d Jason killing a dog as he explained it had been heavily implied by that point in the films that Jason would not ultimately kill a child or animals, etc. Trust me, a good chunk of the F13 fans love Kane Hodder). But with The Batman, it was a new director (even if Reeves earned a lot of good will with his Planet of the Apes movies, not everyone has seen those and/or think that proves he’d also be good at Batman), new continuity, and a controversial pick for Batman himself. So I think it had the most uphill battle to fight out of all the Batman films since the 2000’s save Batman Begins (but that was primarily due to the prior Batman film, Batman and Robin, being infamous, rather than any casting Nolan made for Begins being controversial).

But yeah, while I would like to see both a DCU Batman film series and a Elseworlds The Batman film series going simultaneously, it makes sense to cut The Batman if they have to cut one. It did well, but not insanely well. But I don’t think it’s guaranteed they’re cancelling it yet.

I couldn't find a good source to verify this, but yeah you would think that they probably sold substantially less Reeves Riddler merch than they did for the Nolan villains. Probably way less than Jim Carrey Riddler, too.

With the runtime, visual style, and tone of the films, it definitely isn't a family film that you would take young kids to. That's fine with me since I'm just a guy who wants to watch a good movie, but I bet WB execs would prefer something more marketable.
 

FunkMiller

Member
It made $772M worldwide which isn't bad, but the problem for Reeves might be that Batman V Superman made $100M more than The Batman. The last two Nolan films both made over $200M more. Looking outside the Batman franchise, even Aquaman outgrossed The Batman. So I doubt that WB sees Battinson as some untouchable golden goose.

A lot of movies now are able to get into the billion dollar range worldwide. If they thought Reeves was the guy to get Batman back into that range, it seems like they'd be telling him to, ya know, hurry up with the script.

You bring up Nolan, but miss out on the fact his first Batman movie didn’t make huge bank either. That came after a Batman people hated too. People need time to warm back up to something after another person has shit the bed with it.

Back then though, WB was run by people with a bit more skill and ability, and rightly saw the potential of the franchise.

Now it’s run by cretins.

So, probably no The Batman Part 2, and another Batman shoehorned in, that will once again be part of a failed shared universe in five years.
 

ManaByte

Member
Guy who made up stuff about Superman test screenings that never happened is now trying to say Reeves has personal problems causing the delay.

 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Because the guy in charge wants his version and thinks it'll make more money.

You seriously don't think it's plausible that a great film project can be ended in favour of another due to greed and ego? Have you seen Hollywood?

I agree folding Battinson into the DCU is unlikely.
Is it possible? Sure. But I think it’s not likely. They’ve scheduled filming. If they cancelled the film that’s quite a few people pissed at WB. Actors and really everyone involved would have other projects they could have taken on.
 
Is it possible? Sure. But I think it’s not likely. They’ve scheduled filming. If they cancelled the film that’s quite a few people pissed at WB. Actors and really everyone involved would have other projects they could have taken on.

I get this but we live in a world where WB deleted a finished film featuring Keaton's return to Batman. Zaslav don't care.
 

KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
Guy who made up stuff about Superman test screenings that never happened is now trying to say Reeves has personal problems causing the delay.


It's not the same guy, if you watch the video he actually says he heard the screening was good, nothing overwhelmingly positive but still good enough to please the fans and continue his universe.
 

ManaByte

Member
It's not the same guy, if you watch the video he actually says he heard the screening was good, nothing overwhelmingly positive but still good enough to please the fans and continue his universe.
Other journalists are saying there was no screening.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I get this but we live in a world where WB deleted a finished film featuring Keaton's return to Batman. Zaslav don't care.
That obviously is shitty but the actors still got their paychecks at least.

Not a bad point, like I said.. it's possible... I still just don't think it's likely. They delayed the film but gave a date for when it's shooting.. Farrel was talking in an interview about the scenes he's going to be in, so while there might not be a finished script, the project is clearly still planned to go forward and the general story is figured out.

My bigger point was that I realllly don't think they'd ever try to fit The Batman's world in with the DCU. I think it's far more likely to be cancelled than to have Gunn try to do that.
 

Doom85

Member
That obviously is shitty but the actors still got their paychecks at least.

Yeah, but a good chunk of the cast and crew probably did not appreciate their work being deleted from existence and without their family and friends ever getting to see it. Hell, I know some actors who have starred in movies primarily because they want their kids or such to see it.

Also, permanently deleting a completed film, or any work of art (yes, by the objective definition, all films are art, whether an individual film is “high art” is what can be debated), is a disgusting act in my eyes. They could have easily pushed it out on streaming only or something, but no, they wanted the tax write-off. There’s a world of difference between that and a film being cancelled before it even begins production.
 

FunkMiller

Member
Is it possible? Sure. But I think it’s not likely. They’ve scheduled filming. If they cancelled the film that’s quite a few people pissed at WB. Actors and really everyone involved would have other projects they could have taken on.

You mean like Robert Pattinson going off to work with Nolan again on The Odyssey?

The Batman Part 2 isn't meant to go before the cameras now until summer 2025. They could easily pull the plug, if Gunn gets his way on putting his Batman front and centre. Hell, we all know Clayface is happening now, filming before The Batman Part 2, and that's in his Batman DCU setting.

Honestly... which movie feels more like it's going to get made and released at this point? Remember this is WB we're talking about, who will make bad decisions all day long, if they think there's money to be made at the end of it. And that shared universe greed has never gone away. You think Zaslav wants another Reeves movie more than he wants a nicer, shinier Batman he can put with Corenswet to make merchandising from?

Reeves is dead in the fucking water.
 

FunkMiller

Member
Guy who made up stuff about Superman test screenings that never happened is now trying to say Reeves has personal problems causing the delay.



Matt Reeves is a professional film maker. All this talk of the script being delayed because he's going through a divorce sounds like horseshit to me.

...and it's not like Warner Bros don't have a previous form when it comes to blaming a director's personal problems or tragedies on why a movie isn't getting made to their satisfaction.
 
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