As Deadline reveals, The Batman director Matt Reeves and his 6th & Idaho production company signed a first-look deal with Warner Bros. and Warner Television, ensuring the company has the right to pick anything the filmmaker comes up with in the upcoming years. The news comes as Warner Bros. Discovery completely restructures the DC Extended Universe, resulting in multiple projects being canceled.
Earlier this year, Warner Bros. released Reeves' highly-successful The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the World’s Greatest Detective. Focused on the investigation side of Batman’s adventures, The Batman offered a unique live-action version of Gotham, stripped from the more fantastic elements of the Dark Knight mythology. Besides pleasing critics, The Batman also became a box office monster, leading Warner Bros. to bring Reeves on board for a sequel.
Robert Pattinson to Play ‘The Batman’ for Matt Reeves and Warne...
Reeves is also reportedly working in multiple spinoffs for The Batman, including one focused on Arkham Asylum and the Gotham City Police Department and the other giving the spotlight to Colin Farrell’s Penguin. While the Penguin series is said to be safe from Warner Bros. Discovery's purge of content, there’s still no news about the second series. However, with Reeves becoming a central player in the company’s future, it wouldn’t be a surprise if both projects moved forward within the DCEU. And, since Warner Bros. is currently working on a 10-year plan for the DC Extended Universe, it looks like Pattinson’s Dark Knight might be the definitive version of the hero moving forward.
While it is great to see Reeves will keep working with Warner Bros. and hopefully be involved in more DCEU projects, the new deal comes after the company canceled Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah Batgirl, the Supergirl and Wonder Twins movies, and multiple animated projects, including Young Justice and Batman: Caped Crusader. Co-produced by Reeves, Batman: Caped Crusader was a revival of Bruce Timm’s iconic Batman: The Animated Series, which also brought the legendary artist back as a producer. So in short, everything is chaos in the DCEU right now. And until Warner Bros. presents us with a clear plan, we have to cherish any good news we get.
Commenting on the new deal, Reeves said, "Making this legendary studio my home is a dream. I am so excited to be working with Mike, Pam, and Channing and our teams to bring captivating stories I am truly passionate about to the big and small screen.”
The next DCEU film to hit theaters is Black Adam, on October 21.
