Director Matt Reeves has revealed that filming one scene of The Batman involving Paul Dano’s Riddler and Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight required over 70 takes.
Speaking with The Guardian, Reeves recalled filming Dano and Pattinson’s final scene together over the course of two days.
“Paul loves doing a lot of takes, as do I,” Reeves said. “We took two days on the final scene between him and Robert Pattinson as Batman, and we must have easily done 70 or 80 takes. Paul loves exploring. He’s obsessive that way.”
Reeves continued, “There were all these moments as the Riddler where he’d be tickled by something and then fly into a rage, and you never knew from take to take where that switch would come. I’d be sitting there with the headphones on, trying to stifle my laughter because he’d always do something surprising. Paul would ask me, ‘Was that crazy? Was that too much?’ I’d say, ‘No it’s fantastic. Let’s do another.’”
Paul Dano, The Batman, and what comes next for Matt Reeves’ DC universe
The Batman released in March 2022 from Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Films. A reboot of the Batman franchise set outside of the DC Extended Universe, the film also stars Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin.
The Batman made $771 million at the worldwide box office off an approximate $185-200 million budget. A sequel, The Batman — Part II, is currently in development and eyeing an October 2025 release, while a television spin-off following Farrell’s character called The Penguin is currently scheduled to hit Max in 2024.
Dano, meanwhile, is starring in Craig Gillespie’s new movie, Dumb Money, which is based on the GameStop short squeeze that occurred in January 2021. Currently playing in a limited number of theaters, Dumb Money is getting a nationwide release in the United States on September 29, 2023.
