It’s been months and months and months since we knew what was going on with Batman. Ben Affleck officially dropped out of the role he only got to play thrice earlier this year, after months of speculation. But now we finally have an answer: We are very close to having a new Batman, and if it all works out, his name will be Edward Cullen.
As per Variety, Robert Pattinson is in the final negotiations to sign on as Bruce Wayne in The Batman, the long-in-the-works solo venture that was originally supposed to both star and be directed by Affleck. Matt Reeves, of the last two Planet of the Apes entries, will stay on as director, having taken the reins a while back.
However, Deadline is reporting that the Pattinson deal is far from over. According to them, Nicholas Hoult — the X-Men cast member and star of the new biopic Tokien — is also still in the running for the part.
For Pattinson, this would be his first Hollywood leading role in some time — since The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2, from back in 2012, to be exact. The English actor has spent the last several years away from Tinseltown, starring in artier fare for acclaimed, visionary directors. Those include David Cronenberg (Cosmopolis, Maps to the Stars), Werner Herzog (Queen of the Desert), Brady Corbet (Childhood of a Leader), James Gray (The Lost City of Z), and Ben and Josh Safdie (Good Time).
Pattinson can currently be seen in High Life, a spacey space movie starring Juliette Binoche, Mia Goth, and André Benjamin, from the great French filmmaker Claire Denis (Trouble Every Day). So this should be a bit of a gear shift, although perhaps it’s not that much of a stretch going from playing a vampire to playing a millionaire who only dresses like a bat.
(Via Variety)