Variety reports that Matt Reeves is in “early talks” to take up the recently vacated director’s chair for Warner Bros.’s The Batman. A writer and director, Reeves is probably best known for his work on the recent Planet Of The Apes movies, taking over for Rupert Wyatt on Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, and helming this year’s upcoming War For The Planet Of The Apes. He also directed Cloverfield for J.J. Abrams, suggesting he has a good idea of how to handle an action movie on both the macro and the micro scale.
Warner Bros. was forced to hunt around for a new director for its standalone Batman movie after star Ben Affleck, who also worked on an early draft of the movie with DC Comics’ Geoff Johns, declined to take on the job. Yesterday, we reported that the script, last touched by Argo’s Chris Terrio, was apparently going back for rewrites, but at least the efforts to secure Reeves suggest the studio is still anxious to get things moving forward and back on the right track (regardless of whatever certain online petitioners might think is the right way for it to go.) That being said, there’s no official word on when The Batman might arrive in theaters.