Warner Bros. is lighting the Batsignal for Robert Pattinson.
The Harry Potter and Twilight actor is in talks to star in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Pattinson has been in the running for some time, along with X-Men star Nicholas Hoult. Pattinson, it seems, won out.
Reeves, who directed the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy, took over helming duties on the superhero stand-alone after Ben Affleck decided to step away from the director’s chair of The Batman in 2017.
After starring as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, Affleck made the decision to walk away from the character, a situation which allowed Reeves to revise the script for a younger Bruce Wayne.
While little is known about the plot of The Batman, Reeves talked to THR in January about the long-gestating project. “You can’t have Batman without a villain,” he said. “There will be a rogues gallery.” At that time, the filmmaker also said the casting process would begin shortly.
Pattinson appeared in 2005’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and rose to stardom by playing the vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight franchise in five films from 2008-12. Following his Twilight days, the actor has gravitated toward smaller-budget, art house features, but before The Batman he had already signed up for a tentpole: Christopher Nolan’s new movie.
Reeves will produce The Batman with his Planet of the Apes collaborator Dylan Clark. The pic is set for a June 25, 2021, release.
