Update: June 4, 2019
New Behind-the-Scenes Details on How Robert Pattinson Won the Role of Batman
Two weeks ago, a black jacket-clad Robert Pattinson faced flashbulbs and reporters at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his period drama,
The Lighthouse. When one guest approached him at the reception and said, “I heard you were the new Batman,” he offered only a sly smile and stayed mum.
In reality, Pattinson was not the Caped Crusader…just yet. Hours after his Cannes duties in designer duds, he would be on a plane to Los Angeles to face perhaps the biggest test of his acting career: putting on a Batsuit for director Matt Reeves, who is casting
The Batman.
That test was officially passed Friday, when Warner Bros. announced that Pattinson had
won the role. The decision was the culmination of an intense process that insiders describe as surprisingly quick. As opposed to most superhero casting efforts, which often include far-and-wide searches and dozens of screen tests for the likes of Superman or more recently, Spider-Man, the Batman process was notably smooth.
“It was quick,” says one Warners insider. “Quicker than normal.”
Reeves, who was hired to write and direct a new Batman movie in February 2017, was envisioning actors while penning the script, according to sources familiar with the filmmaker’s thinking. It helped that this new Batman needed to conform to a defined age bracket. He is written as around 30 years old, and the story is neither another rehashing of his origin nor the tale of a seasoned crimefighter ruling Gotham City. He is Bruce Wayne still trying to find his footing on his way to becoming the genius detective.
This, of course, eliminated Ben Affleck, as
THR first reported back in July 2017. (Affleck and Warner Bros. denied the recasting at the time because the actor, who had played the role in
Batman v Superman and
Justice League, was to have headlined his own stand-alone movie that was sidelined when the studio began rethinking its superhero strategy.)
Reeves is said to have considered Pattinson, 33, early on in the process, says one source, even though no outreach was made. Reeves didn’t even know if the actor wanted the part. Since Pattinson shot to fame as a heartthrob vampire in the
Twilight films, he has built a solid résumé in smaller, well-reviewed independent films like
Good Time and
Maps to the Stars. He has assiduously avoided big studio franchise films.
But that fact actually made him more attractive to Reeves and the executive team at Warner Bros. Specifically, Pattinson has not yet appeared in a Marvel Studios movie, and name-brand actors not working for the DC Comics rival are becoming few and far between. While there are no contract provisions prohibiting Marvel actors from appearing in DC/Warner Bros. movies and vice versa, execs believe that cross-pollination dilutes both brands and can cause confusion for audiences, especially from a marketing point of view.
Nicholas Hoult, 29, who became Pattinson’s chief rival later in the process, had been appearing as Hank McCoy, aka the Beast, in the X-Men movies. But Warners execs didn’t disqualify him because the X-Men flicks are not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, are ensemble in nature and Hoult spent large chunks of those movies unrecognizable as a furry blue mutant.
Reeves is said to have spent hours poring over the two actors’ work and met with them in April. Pattinson has far more name recognition than Hoult, but it was his work in
Good Time and
High Life, among others, that Reeves kept on coming back to. Hoult, too, had impressed the deliberate filmmaker, known for his thought-provoking work on the
Planet of the Apes franchise, with
The Favourite this winter.
The two actors in short order became the only contenders, and during the week of May 20, when Pattinson flew in from Cannes, both shot screen tests in costume on the Burbank lot. Each had a pre-negotiated deal in place, ready to go into effect for whoever had the final contingency lifted, the screen test.
Pattinson and Hoult put on a suit from a previous Batman movie, as has become customary in the Bat-test process. (Christian Bale, before landing
Batman Begins, performed his test in the suit used by Val Kilmer in 1995’s
Batman Forever, for instance.) Did they embody the character? How did their eyes look and act? Is there a specialness to them? Those were the questions Reeves and the studio wanted answered.
“(Reeves) wanted very specific things,” says one insider. “He knew what he was looking for.”
Reeves and Warners execs took the week after Memorial Day to deliberate their choices, and by Thursday night, made the calls to the actors. The Batman who would lead the studio into the 2020s had been found.
Pattinson now moves on to the next stage: getting fitted for his own Batsuit, and training for a shoot that will likely take place in early 2020.
"Quick" Debates and Secret Screen Tests: How Robert Pattinson Became Batman
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Update: June 12, 2019
Riddler, Firefly, Catwoman and Penguin Reportedly the Villains for THE BATMAN
Director Matt Reeves has four members of his Rogues Gallery for
The Batman lined up, according to
Geeks Worldwide.
First up is The Riddler, likely the main villain, who will be “a criminal mastermind in Gotham City who takes delight in incorporating riddles and puzzles into his schemes, leaving them as clues for the authorities to solve.” Reeves is seeking a male actor of any ethnicity between the ages of 30 and 40.
Next up The Penguin, a “Gotham City mobster.” He is a “short, obese man with a long nose, and he uses high-tech umbrellas as weapons.” Reeves is searching for a male actor of any ethnicity between the ages of 20 and 40.
Catwoman will also be in the film, as a “Gotham City burglar” who “wears a tight one piece outfit and uses a bullwhip for a weapon.” Reeves wants an actress of any ethnicity between the ages of 20 and 30.
Another villain that will show up is “a professional arsonist known as the “Firefly”.” He “attempts to burn all the places that he lacked the privilege to go as an orphan child.” Reeves is searching for a male actor of any ethnicity between the ages of 20 and 30.
The Hollywood Reporter and Justin Kroll at Variety previously mentioned that Penguin and Catwoman may appear in the film. Danny Devito played the role of Penguin in Tim Burton’s
Batman Returns, alongside Michelle Pffeifer, who played Catwoman. Forbes first mentioned that Riddler could be in the movie as well. Jim Carrey played The Riddler in Joel Schumacher’s
Batman Forever. Firefly was a secondary antagonist in the 2013 video game
Batman: Arkham Origins.
Matt Reeves is writing and directing
The Batman, which will see
High Life star Robert Pattinson suit up as the Caped Crusader. Filming will begin sometime next year for a June 2021 release date.
https://thegww.com/exclusive-matt-r...ature-the-riddler-penguin-catwoman-confirmed/
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Update: May 31, 2019
It's Official: Robert Pattinson to Play the Dark Knight in Matt Reeves' THE BATMAN
Warner Bros has approved Robert Pattinson as the star of
The Batman, the trilogy of films that Matt Reeves will direct later this year, Deadline hears.
Pattinson has been considered a frontrunner because the filmmaker liked him, but the studio was torn between him and Nicholas Hoult, and wanted both of the actors on tape because this is such a big decision on a cornerstone Warner Bros DC franchise. Those meetings happened yesterday, and the decision was made. Hoult, who starred in Tolkien and is about to reprise in the latest
X-Men: First Class film
Dark Phoenix, was impressive, but Pattinson will be the guy and negotiations will get underway any moment.
The film is produced by Dylan Clark, who produced Reeves’
Planet of the Apesfilms. Expect an announcement imminently.
Pattinson is a strong choice. He certainly has been at the center of a zeitgest franchise before in
Twilight Saga, and he has used the time after to show his chops as an actor in films like
High Life, and is starring for Warner Bros in Christopher Nolan’s next film, and just debuted in the Robert Eggers-directed
The Lighthouse at Cannes.
They’ve got to work out a deal that will clearly include options on at least two more films, but this is considered a formality in a drawn out process. Reeves’ film tracks Bruce Wayne in the formative stages of Batman, which is why they needed an actor in his early 30s.
This film will in no way carry on the work that Ben Affleck did as the older Batman in
Batman Vs. Superman and
Justice League.
https://deadline.com/2019/05/robert-pattinson-batman-wins-role-warner-bros-1202624926/
