The Batman: Warner Bros. Executive Reveals How Film’s Success Will Impact Future DC Movies

Matt Reeves’ The Batman is officially the second-highest-grossing film of the pandemic era, bringing in over $120 million domestically in its first weekend at the box office. Though Warner Brothers has yet to officially push a sequel to the film into production, all signs are pointing that way. In fact, Warner Brothers boss Toby Emmerich says the film has helped convince him and his team to rely more on the power of its filmmakers.

“The secret of the movie business is quality. It’s the best business strategy for both theatrical motion pictures and superhero movies,” Emmerich told Deadline in a weekend chat. “The movies don’t have to all have the same tone, or interlock with other DC movies, or have an Easter egg that sets up another film. Quality is the most important factor for a studio, and the biggest thing you can do to influence quality is the filmmaker that you hire.”

Though a direct sequel has yet to be greenlit, Reeves has said there have been conversations—especially now that he’s already working on two separate spin-off shows for HBO Max.

“I really believe in what we’ve done and I’d be excited to tell more stories… We are already telling other stories in the streaming space, we’re doing stuff on HBO Max, we’re doing a Penguin show with Colin [Farrell], which is gonna be super cool,” Reeves shared with The Independent at the film’s premiere. “And we’re working on some other stuff, too, but we have started talking about another movie.”

Despite that, the filmmaker has yet to let his Bruce Wayne know of any sequel talks.

“I don’t think so, ” Pattinson replied when asked if Reeves talked to him about a longer arc for his character. “We’ve kind of had conversations about it since. But, I mean, he spent five years from conception to completion of this. He’s very, very, very, one-track-minded – well, one-project-minded, I guess. And so I think until this comes out, I doubt he’s thought about the next steps yet. Or maybe he has and he hasn’t told me.” 

The Batman is now playing in theaters.

What’d you think of Pattinson’s first go-around as the Caped Crusader? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!