A couple of days back, rumors started doing the rounds that Warner Bros. had a test screening of a movie. With reports emerging that the said cut was 3 hours long, fans online started speculating as to whether it could be for Black Adam or some other project in their cards. Most, however, seemed to rule out The Batman for some reason. Now, rumors are claiming that the movie in fact was Matt Reeves’ The Batman which had a test screening with a reported 3 hour runtime.
There is of course, no single source to back up this claim but online chatter is getting stronger. Anonymous reports online describe the movie as a serious, dark, graphic and scary film with a strong horror element. Zoe Kravitz receives praise for her portrayal of Selina Kyle and with Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne, she shares a relationship wherein they “argue a lot”. A few reports are even describing her as the best Catwoman of all time. Paul Dano’s Riddler also received heavy praise. Lastly, there’s supposedly a shocking twist at the end of the movie.
As tantalizing as this sounds, a major issue with these claims however, is that none of these sound like anything unique. There are little specifics and no revealing insights about the movie which makes it entirely possible that someone just concocted the whole story up. If you’ve been following the plot leaks, it wouldn’t be too hard to come up with some stuff on your own. Indeed, some folks are even making fun of the observations coming out of the screening.
Thne again, it’s entirely possible that a screening did indeed happen. The Batman began filming early last year and while the pandemic threw their filming schedule off-track, the production has wrapped and it’s conceivable to believe that Reeves has enough footage to screen a rough cut of the film. As for the 3 hour running time, the cuts screened this early are assembly cuts with mostly unfinished shots as the studio and director work to figure out the right rhythm for the movie. So that 3 hour running time is almost certainly coming down.
I won’t deny that the prospect that a 3 hour version of The Batman exists in a vault at Warner Bros. has me beyond hyped. There’s no telling what the final time would be and I’m guessing it will skew closer between 2 to 2.5 hours but should Warner Bros. be in an experimental mood and release a 180 minute cut, boy would I be thrilled. Would you? Let me know in the comments below.
The Batman is set for release on March 4, 2022. It features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Andy Serkis as Alfred, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone and Colin Farrell as The Penguin.
