WithThe Batmanopening in movie theaters on March 4, I recently had the chance to speak with directorMatt Reevesabout making his hugely anticipated DC movie. During the interview, Reeves talked about test screening the movie before he was done editing, which included showing an even longer version to those early audiences. But while he was nervous going in, he soon learned that the first audience to see the film loved the detective story and it was their favorite part of the film. Here’s some of what he said:
“The first version of this movie that I screened; the movie has a very ambitious, complex narrative. So, by the time we got to a place where we had to start testing, I was not all the way through the cut of the movie. There was so much of the movie yet to be touched and it was really long. I mean, not to say that the movie doesn’t have length now, but it was longer than what I intended. I was terrified because I thought, oh my gosh, we’re showing this, before I’m ready, to an audience and in terms of a Batman movie, it’s a very complex detective story narrative. Are they going to be able to follow anything?
What I found actually, which was amazing, was how much they loved that aspect. That was the biggest relief. I was thinking, okay, why did I do this? Why did I decide to make this kind of story? And what the first test screening told me was the audience wanted this, that we had the Batmobile chases, we had all the things. You can’t make a Batman movie without giving the baseline things that people want from a Batman movie. But I knew we were challenging the audience in this side of world’s greatest detective side, because it was going to be a very complex narrative and it turned out they love that part of it. It was one of the things that tested best. So that part was a great thing to learn, which was that, actually, the audience would be excited about this version of the movie and that only continued to get better as we continued to test.”
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From there Reeves talked about how after that first screening, he continued to tweak the film in the editing room, and how the test screening audiences didn’t know they were seeingThe Batmanuntil they were seated.
“I finally just made my way, bit by bit through the cut and you make tiny adjustments to verify that little things that maybe are not clear enough are clearer, but the testing process kind of validated that this was a direction that an audience would be excited about. For me, what was thrilling was they didn’t know what they were seeing. So, they would come to a screening and then suddenly they realized they were seeing a Batman movie, and it showed how much love there is for Batman, which was so exciting for me. Because of course, I’ve loved this since I was a kid and to be in an audience and have that big screen experience after we’re all been away from it for so long and to see people cheer and to see people get excited and then to see them get wrapped up. I mean, there’d be moments where there was just utter silence and you were like, okay, people love Batman and they’re into this, and that was exciting. That to me was the best part of the testing.”
Another thing we discussed was his relationship with Warner Bros. while making the film. The film has a lot of adult themes and I wondered if the studio ever pulled him aside to ask him to adjust the material or if they were ever nervous. But besides wanting a PG-13 rating, it sounds like both sides were extremely happy with the working relationship. Reeves explains:
“What’s so interesting is that they, and to me, the experience on the film, they have been so incredibly supportive and they loved, from the inception, the pitch. Once I wanted to put it into this world and that I wanted to do a detective story noir and that whole thing, they were very responsive. They were very excited about that. I said from the beginning, to do a standalone Batman film, you really have to … There’s a long line of great movies. And so, the idea that you can come and just do another Batman film, it has to be a great Batman film. You have to set out to do something that feels distinctive and different and definitive. They embraced it the whole time. There was never a moment where they said to me, are you sure? Let’s not. They really leaned into everything, and I’ve had the support to do exact … I mean, I have to say, this movie is exactly the movie I wanted it to be, and they have supported me all the way through it.
So no, there was never really that moment. One thing they did do, which was my intention from the beginning, was they said, “Look, it’s important to us that the movie be PG-13. We want to ensure that we can get this … It’s a Batman movie, and we’re investing so much in it.” And I was like, “Well, in the Apes movies, I tried to sort of find that balance as well.” They were meant to be sort of … They were obviously spectacle and grand entertainment, but there was a level of intensity. I felt like in that same way, I knew that we could push the boundaries of what you could do in a PG-13 movie and still deliver everything I wanted to do.”
Watch what Reeves had to say in the player above.The BatmanstarsRobert Pattinson(Bruce Wayne/Batman),Zoë Kravitzas Selina Kyle, Paul Dano(Riddler),Jeffrey Wright(James Gordon),Colin Farrell(Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin),John Turturro(Carmine Falcone),Peter Sarsgaardas Gotham D.A. Gil Colson,Jayme Lawsonas mayoral candidate Bella Reál, andAndy Serkisas Alfred Pennyworth.
