Warner Bros. and DC aren’t having the best of times. After the controversial cancellation of ‘Batgirl’, the studio, under the new mandate of David Zaslav and the merger that gave rise to Warner Bros. Discovery, has announced a complete renovation that has begun to cause havoc, with more projects canceled and numerous. self-produced titles removed from HBO Max. Zaslav’s concrete plan for DC is prioritize big movie releases again, over streaming.
In this context, it is not surprising that the studio has decided to focus on the titles that have given them the most joy in recent years, ‘Joker’, of which a sequel with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga has already been announced, and ‘The Batman’, one of the biggest blockbusters of last year. Its director, Matt Reeves, has already confirmed that he is working on the sequel with the return of Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, and Warner wanted to extend his professional relationship with him through an exclusive agreement so that he is in charge of overseeing and developing the Batman Universe projects for the studio..
The news comes exclusively from Deadline, who announces it the director has signed a contract with his production company, 6th & Idaho, through which he will be responsible for both the film previews and the television division (Warner Bros. Television Group), where he is simultaneously working on the El Pingüino spin-off series with Colin Farrell. Warner’s new co-CEOs, Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, have expressed a desire for Reeves to become a mainstay of the studio in the same way that Todd Phillips did with “Joker” or Clint Eastwood over his career.
In an official statement also published via Deadline, Reeves expressed the following: “Making this legendary studio my home is a dream. I’m so excited to work with Mike, Pam, Channing [Dungey, directora de Warner Bros. Television Group] and our teams to bring compelling stories that I am truly passionate about on the big and small screen “. For his part, DeLuca claimed to be “Grateful for the relationship we have inherited with Matt and ‘The Batman’ and for the first steps of The Penguin series for HBO Max. We are thrilled to move forward with this agreement because it is the pillar we want to build with the directors working in the our studio We want to create an atmosphere where all these directors can excel in their work and be with us in the Warner family. Creating a home for Matt to develop more projects in the Batman universe, as well as other original titles, was very important to us.”.
Under this new agreement and as we have already said, Reeves he is already immersed in the script for “The Batman 2”, which he is writing with Mattson Tomlin, and the aforementioned ‘The Penguin’. In addition, he also continues the Arkham Asylum series, which he allegedly would be involved in. Moving forward, Warner will have the pre-emptive rights to develop Reeves’ projects, which will continue to expand the stories set in Gotham.
And what about the rest of DC?
The exclusive deal with Matt Reeves is the first step in the new organization of the DC Universe, which under Zaslav’s leadership will be refocused on major theatrical releases, with particular emphasis on “Black Adam” or “Shazam! Wrath of the Gods’. The renovation won’t be easy, not least because of the controversy surrounding ‘The Flash’ and its protagonist, Ezra Miller, but the CEO’s hope is to get back on track with a new ten-year plan inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for which they would look for a figure similar to Kevin Feige. Initially, Reeves will only play this role in the Batman universe. Whether he will end up taking on more responsibilities in the DC Extended Universe or anyone else will be announced for the position of general supervisor remains to be seen.
Source: E Cartelera
