And we’re off. Production on The Batman is officially underway. Director Matt Reeves has confirmed as such with this image of a slate board posted to his Twitter account under the caption “#DayOne #TheBatman”. I think we can take that as a reliable source. Here’s the tweet in actuality:
Fluffy! Fluffy. Fluffy? Fluffy.
I wanted to write the entire 300-word piece with that single one but I’ve been informed that won’t be permissible. It’s the ambition that counts. Fluffy is the key term here for one reason. When Paramount debuted the first trailer for the new-improved Sonic the Hedgehog movie (improved, as in not disturbing), fans caught a glimpse of a hitherto unseen Sonic form, and duly proceeded to lose their collective minds. Fluffy Sonic.
Denis Villeneuve scored something of a pyrrhic victory when he directed 2017’s gargantuan sci-fi extravaganza Blade Runner 2049. The film was acclaimed by critics and fans alike, but its blockbuster production budget saw it struggle to recoup costs at the box office. I hope that hasn’t weighed on Denis’s mind too heavily – 2049 was an overwhelming artistic triumph. Those financials may have put to bed the prospect of an immediate Blade Runner threequel, but Villeneuve remains invested in its world, as he discussed in a new interview with Empire:
Few films in the Star Wars saga mined its past as readily as Rogue One did, a spinoff/prequel/multi-million dollar retcon that reintroduced iconic characters in unexpected ways. So, you may not be entirely surprised to learn there was one more familiar face billed for an appearance before circumstances dictated otherwise.
2013’s Brad Pitt-fronted World War Z was the highest grossing zombie movie of all time, a fact I was not aware of 30 seconds prior to writing this sentence. Romping home with a handy $540 million gross, one would assume a sequel was in short order. As it turns out though, not exactly.
