The theatrical runtime for The Batman has reportedly been revealed, and it’s nothing to sneeze at.
The landing page for The Batman on the official IMAX Melbourne website seemingly reveals how long the film will be: 176 minutes, or just under three hours. IMAX Melbourne is a theater in Australia that currently offers the world’s largest cinema screen.
The Batman‘s apparent two-hour, 56-minute runtime would make it the longest film about the Dark Knight ever released. Close behind, The Dark Knight Rises clocked in at two hours and 45 minutes, and The Dark Knight landed at two hours and 32 minutes. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice came in at just one minute shorter than The Dark Knight, while most other theatrically released Batman movies hovered around two hours long.
Co-written and directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman recently landed a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association (MPA) for “violence, disturbing content and strong language.” Considering The Batman‘s gritty, dark tone exemplified by its promotional material, some fans were wary that the film hadn’t been given an R rating. However, despite concerns that The Batman‘s lighter rating would dampen its realism, recent evidence suggests the film avoided an R rating because it lacks “excessive foul language or nudity” and relies more on general destructive mayhem than overly gory sequences. Compared to the DC Extended Universe’s version of Gotham City, the film has indeed been described as “grounded more in reality.”
The Batman follows a younger Bruce Wayne, played by Robert Pattinson, in his second year of fighting crime. When he begins investigating a series of killings seemingly perpetrated by Edward Nashton/The Riddler (Paul Dano), Bruce comes into conflict with a number of important characters from the Batman mythos, including Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) and Penguin (Colin Farrell). The film’s trailers suggest Pattinson’s Batman may be the most unhinged and self-destructive Dark Knight yet seen in theaters.
Despite uncertainties surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and cinema closures in several countries, The Batman is set to hit theaters on March 4. Two spinoff series have already been confirmed for HBO Max — one following Farrell’s villainous Penguin and one centered on the police force in Reeves’ Gotham City. Recent rumors suggest the Gotham PD series will heavily feature both Pattinson’s Batman and a yet-to-be-announced new version of iconic antagonist the Joker.
Source: IMAX Melbourne
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