Although Matt Reeves has his own “Batman” franchise for Warner Bros, James Gunn decided that it was a smart move to work on a separate Caped Crusader project for his upcoming DCU. A few years ago, Gunn hired Andy Muschietti to direct this Batman movie, titled “The Brave and the Bold,” for his DC Studios.
The problem is that having two Batmans occurring simultaneously is maybe not the best business move. It doesn’t help that Muschietti directed “The Flash,” a film that lost more than $150M for Warner Bros and was ridiculed by many upon release. Gunn hired Muschietti before anyone had seen “The Flash,” so as you can imagine, he’s in a bit of a conundrum here.
Or is he? Amid rumors that Muschietti had been let go from “Brave and the Bold,” the filmmaker himself has now confirmed that he’s still very much involved, and will be directing the upcoming movie. Muschietti further adds that a screenwriter is currently working on the script, and that the film will likely not shoot until after 2026.
The Argentinian-born Muschietti is the filmmaker behind both “It” movies and recently shot the Max prequel series “Welcome to Derry.” He gained prominence with his 2013 horror film “Mama.” He’s been a Warner Bros regular for over a decade, making the studio plenty of money — until “The Flash” happened and wiped the goodwill clean.
Still, was it really Muschietti’s fault? His star, Ezra Miller, went rogue after filming wrapped — choking a woman, grooming minors, punching strangers, committing armed robbery, and even reportedly housing a mother and three young children on an unlicensed cannabis farm. Not exactly the kind of headlines that help a $200M tentpole.
“The Brave and the Bold” is said to follow Batman as he learns to live with his biological son, Damian Wayne, who also happens to be Robin. This would be the first time we’ve seen Robin on the big screen since Joel Schumacher’s 1997 misfire “Batman & Robin.”
Fact remains that no Batman has topped Nolan’s “The Dark Knight.” Burton’s “Batman” and “Batman Returns” also stand as seminal depictions of the character. We’ve already had Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson don the cape — audiences are bound to get tired of the endless reboots eventually.
Here's a small scoop for Sunday night. Nothing too exciting, since it concerns the once-promising Ben Wheatley, a filmmaker who broke out with the cult-horror gut-punch of "Kill List" and "A Field in England.”