Robert Pattinson talks to Variety about his career and The Batman

Not only has Variety spoilt us with Rob on the cover and a new interview, but they’ve also included a new photoshoot. Below is an extract from the interview on his thoughts about the role of The Batman:

Robert Pattinson couldn’t stop Googling himself. In mid-May, the 33-year-old actor found himself obsessively refreshing his phone on a flight from Los Angeles to the south of France. Pattinson was headed to the Cannes Film Festival for the world premiere of his new movie, “The Lighthouse,” just days before he was set to start shooting the next Christopher Nolan film, “Tenet.” But someone had tipped off the press about another top-secret project, one the entire world was now reporting on: Pattinson had been cast as the next Batman.

The stories were premature — Pattinson hadn’t even auditioned yet — and he was horrified that all the chatter would spook Warner Bros. executives into not hiring him. “When that thing leaked, I was f—ing furious,” Pattinson recalls on a recent rainy afternoon in London. “Everyone was so upset. Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing.”

As he scoured the internet for any clues that he’d been cut from the studio’s wish list, the man next to him leaned over to say hello. “I was sitting next to Christopher McQuarrie,” Pattinson says. “I’d never met him before. Oh, God! He’d seen me Googling myself for the past hour!” Pattinson tried to explain to the director behind the latest “Mission: Impossible” films what had happened. “No worries,” McQuarrie said, nodding. “I’d probably be doing the same thing.”

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This is Pattinson’s first interview since being formally anointed as the Dark Knight. And he still seems to be pinching himself about being next in line to put on the latex boots after Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck. Growing up in England, he watched the Tim Burton “Batman” movies. “When I was a kid, it was the only outfit that I had,” Pattinson says. But he won’t reveal where he used to wear his Batman costume. “If I actually said it in an interview, I would definitely have a lot of abuse afterwards,” he says with an outburst of nervous laughter. “If I successfully play the character, I can say it at the end.”

When Pattinson was named as the front-runner for the role, the backlash on social media was intense — a petition even surfaced on Change.org asking WB to reconsider. “This will ruin my childhood and my dreams,” one commenter posted. But Pattinson is surprisingly upbeat about the mixed reaction. “To be honest, it was less vitriolic than I was expecting,” he says. And he’s not deterred by the doubters: “It’s much more fun when you’re an underdog. There’s no expectation of you.”

Head on over to Variety to read the full interview.

Michael E Uslan Defends Matt Reeves’ Casting of Robert Pattinson as #TheBatman

I’ve never doubted Matt Reeves’s casting of Rob nor Rob’s choice to portray Batman. It’s good to know we’re in good company. Michael E Uslan has weighed in on the debate and here’s what he had to say. From Comicbook:

“My position is this: trust the filmmaker and give the filmmaker, and the filmmaker’s vision, the benefit of the doubt. Then wait ’til you see the movie,” Uslan said at Germany’s CCXP Cologne convention.

And then once you see the movie, judge the hell out of it. But I think that’s really the formula going forward. I couldn’t be happier, I couldn’t be more enthused, as a Batman fan, that Matt Reeves is the filmmaker in charge and has selected Robert Pattinson to be his next Batman.”

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“The star of the Batman movies is Bruce Wayne. Batman is the star. Batman is who everyone wants to see, along with the supervillains, so how does a filmmaker make the choice of which actor to cast? And I think the real key question for fans, and for all of us to focus on, is the filmmaker,” Uslan said.

“So we’ve seen the genius of Tim Burton, we have seen the genius of Christopher Nolan. The question becomes: is there a filmmaker who you see has a knowledge of a character, has an understanding of a character, a passion and a love for the character? Does that filmmaker have a vision for the character? And if so, does he or she, do you believe, know how to execute that vision? And if you can answer those questions successfully, then for me, my role is to become the world’s number one cheerleader. And you have to trust in your filmmakers.”

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“Ben Affleck, when it was announced he would be Batman, I thought they were really gonna surround the studio with pitchforks and torches,” Uslan said. “So then Robert Pattinson is announced, and the controversy on both sides breaks out all over again, so it’s a repeated formula.”

Click on the link to read the full article.

Robert Pattinson’s The Batman Now in Pre-Production

IMDbPro updated overnight to move The Batman from “script” to “pre-production” as at 30 June 2019. Here’s hoping we hear about some new co-star castings in the upcoming weeks. Or anything really.

Robert Pattinson #TheBatman and #TheLighthouse Featured in Total Film UK July ’19 Issue

Here’s two teasers featuring Rob in the July 2019 issue of Total Film UK. The comment on the photo is slightly perplexing.  Is it sarcasm Rob asking not just for Bale’s costume but body?  *Update: I just realised they photoshopped Rob’s head onto Christian’s body. Was a bit slow on the uptake this morning. But I still stand by – clearly they haven’t seen Rob’s training photos. Will post better quality as soon as we can.

Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter gives us an inside look at the process that culminated in Warner Brother’s and Matt Reeves’ casting of Rob as the new ‘Batman’. We’ve shared an excerpt below. You can read the full article HERE.

“Quick” Debates and Secret Screen Tests: How Robert Pattinson Became Batman

Two weeks ago, a black jacket-clad Robert Pattinson faced flashbulbs and reporters at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his period drama, The Lighthouse. When one guest approached him at the reception and said, “I heard you were the new Batman,” he offered only a sly smile and stayed mum.

In reality, Pattinson was not the Caped Crusader…just yet. Hours after his Cannes duties in designer duds, he would be on a plane to Los Angeles to face perhaps the biggest test of his acting career: putting on a Batsuit for director Matt Reeves, who is casting The Batman.

That test was officially passed Friday, when Warner Bros. announced that Pattinson had won the role. The decision was the culmination of an intense process that insiders describe as surprisingly quick. As opposed to most superhero casting efforts, which often include far-and-wide searches and dozens of screen tests for the likes of Superman or more recently, Spider-Man, the Batman process was notably smooth.
“It was quick,” says one Warners insider. “Quicker than normal.”

Matt Reeves tweets about Robert Pattinson as The Batman

We already knew Robert Pattinson was named as the new “Batman”, Matt Reeves tweet this morning just seals the deal further. Am wondering though if the 3 bats are confirmation that Rob has signed on for 3 films. If you recall Deadline did mention that the deal will “clearly include options on at least two more films, but this is considered a formality in a drawn out process.” Hmmm.

🦇🦇🦇 pic.twitter.com/2AaQaexvUF

— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) June 3, 2019

We’ve also created The Batman film page which we will keep updating. You can access via the image on the sidebar or through our film page tab. Alternatively you can bookmark it from HERE.

For those on instagram, there is also now an official Batman IG. Make sure you are following it.

Rob sure is making sure he’s keeping us busy – the next few years are going to be phenomenal.