It’s official: The Batman is getting a sequel.
News of the sequel arrived during the Warner Bros. presentation at CinemaCon, where Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Boss Toby Emmerich made the announcement. Robert Pattinson will once again be playing Bruce Wayne / Batman, with director Matt Reeves returning at the helm.
“Thank you all for your tremendous support for The Batman,” Reeves said to the audience during his brief stage appearance at CinemaCon. “We couldn’t have gotten here without the faith and enthusiasm of all your teams around the world. I’m excited to jump back into this world for the next chapter.”
It’s no shock that WB is keen to get cracking on a second film. The Batman has proven to be a hit – both critically and financially. The film has topped $US760 million worldwide from a reported budget of $US185 million. And it’s only doing big numbers on HBO Max, which saw a whopping 4.1 million households tune in to watch during its first week on the U.S. streaming service.
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The Batman‘s success is paving the way for a universe expansion. Not only is a sequel on the way, but Reeves is also attached to two spinoff series currently in the works for HBO Max. Colin Farrell’s Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot / Penguin will be the focus of one series and the other will be set around the Gotham City Police Department and Arkham Asylum.
There are no plot details for the still-untitled sequel to go on as yet. A big tease in The Batman had Barry Keoghan playing an Unseen Arkham Prisoner (as he was initially credited) – a man who was later confirmed, thanks to the release of a deleted scene online, to be The Joker. Perhaps the second film will pave the way for Keoghan’s big turn as the Clown Prince of Crime?
Stay tuned…