The Batman director reveals final scene was shot “70 to 80” times

❘ Published: 2023-09-17T16:53:05

Warner Bros.

The Batman director Matt Reeves has confirmed that the final scene of the movie was shot about “70 to 80” times.

The latest live-action film about everyone’s favorite Caped Crusader — The Batman — was praised for its impeccable performances and its realistic take on the iconic character.

Fans especially praised Paul Dano’s performance as The Riddler, a forensic accountant who was inspired by Batman to become a serial killer who targets elite Gotham citizens and live streams his crimes.

The Batman ends with a final conversation between The Riddler and Batman (Robert Pattinson) after he’s arrested and now the movie’s director has revealed how many takes it took to get the final shot.

Batman director cites Dano as reason why finale had many takes

The Guardian recently did a profile about Dano and his extensive career including his most recent role in The Batman.

Within the profile, The Batman’s director, Matt Reeves, revealed that he wrote The Riddler with Dano in mind as the actor is as “indefatigable” as he is when it comes to doing as many scene takes as possible.

“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 said.

The director went on to explain, “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.’”

And it seems like Reeves and Dano’s determination for perfection was well worth it as The Batman made $771 million at the box office against its $185–200 million budget and became the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2022.

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