The Batman is set to premiere in theaters in just under a week, and although the film is carrying with it a PG-13 rating, director Matt Reeves still feels as if he’s accomplished everything he wanted to with the film.
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In a recent interview, Reeves was asked whether or not he ever felt like Warner Bros. was asking him to edit material to make the film fit its rating. Reeves denied that and said that they were supportive from the very start.
“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,” Reeves told Collider. “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.”
Reeves also said that the one thing Warner Bros. did do, however, was tell Reeves that the film was going to be PG-13 early on, although Reeves noted that he was still able to deliver everything he wanted to.
“So no, there was never really that moment,” said Reeves. “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 make sure 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.”
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The Batman is directed by Matt Reeves from a screenplay he co-wrote with Peter Craig. Reeves is also currently developing two HBO Max series that will be set within the film’s universe. This includes a Gotham City Police project, and Penguin-centered series starring Colin Farrell.
