An IATSE strike is avoided; glimpses of Robert Pattinson and company in The Batman trailer; a note on superstitions, and Succession Season 3 premieres. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.
But First: I’m neither Tim Molloy nor Margeaux Sippell, but managing editor Caleb Hammond. You may have read a few of my cover stories here, here, or here. If you haven’t, don’t worry, join an exclusive club featuring my wonderful parents. I kid, they’re very supportive. I’ll be appearing from time to time to write these Rundowns.
IATSE Deal Reached: The clock was ticking this weekend to get a deal done before the IATSE strike was set to begin today. And a tentative deal was reached Saturday afternoon. “Tentative” is key because IATSE union members will still have to vote on the deal in a few weeks, and Variety reports that the outcome of this vote is all but assured. “Some of the details have not been officially released, and many members contacted Sunday said they would wait for more information before offering an opinion. But others said that they’ve been underwhelmed by what they’ve seen so far,” Variety reports.
IATSE? Strike? How Did I Miss This?: For full details of the still-ongoing timeline, Katie Kilkenny and Carolyn Giardina’s coverage over at The Hollywood Reporter has been extensive and more than enough to get you both up to speed and keep you in the loop.
Batman Returns: Matt Reeves’ The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, got its first full trailer this weekend at the DC FanDome event, a full year after the first teaser was released at FanDome 2020.
What Is The Batman? Who Is Robert Pattinson?: OK, Rip Van Winkle, I give up.
Here’s our breakdown of the three-minute trailer, which shows glimpses of Pattinson as Bruce Wayne and Batman — but mostly Batman. Also featured is an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as Penguin, Zoë Kravitz as a pink wig-wearing Catwoman, and Paul Dano, briefly glimpsed as the Riddler.
May I Editorialize? Pattinson’s Batman appears to be borrowing a page from Peter Parker’s Spider-Man. Part of what made Peter Parker so relatable is how much he struggles balancing his life as a student with his nocturnal crime-fighting life. In the past, portrayals of Wayne showcase a smooth billionaire playboy who doesn’t appear to have much difficulty in this task. He also seems to have an endless supply of sugar-free Red Bulls in the Batcave (presumably in a mini-fridge that Alfred restocks). Here Pattinson’s Batman is dirty, exhausted and looks to be having trouble keeping his two lives separate. “The delineation between when he’s Batman and when he’s Bruce is not so clear,” Pattinson said before unveiling the trailer Saturday.
This, but replace one of them with Batman.
The Batman hits theaters in March 2022 and unlike current Warner Bros. films is scheduled to hit HBO Max, not simultaneously, but 45 days later, on April 18.
Here’s the full trailer:
A Word on Superstitions: “I cannot afford to be superstitious,” says Bergman Island writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve on how having young kids dictates where and when she writes her scripts. The script for her latest was written in multiple homes on Fårö, the longtime home of Ingmar Bergman, before she finished it at her own home in Paris. Hansen-Løve is not precious about the process but does opine a bit for the countryside. “I love more than anything being in the country when I write.” The film, which stars Vicky Krieps, Tim Roth and Mia Wasikowska, hit theaters and VOD this weekend, from IFC Films.
ICYMI: Filmmaker Magazine, with which MovieMaker shares a 1993 birthday but is not affiliated, released its 25 New Faces of Independent Film last week. A highlight is Frédéric Da, whose Teenage Emotions was one of my personal favorites out of Slamdance this year.
Teenage Emotions was workshopped and filmed with Da’s New Roads high school students, a talented bunch that includes Laura Dern’s daughter, Jaya Harper. Also making the list is the Omnes Film collective, the group behind 2019’s Ham on Rye and the forthcoming Topology of Sirens and Eephus. We wrote about Omnes a few months ago. Ham on Rye director Tyler Taormina explained how the collective is able to make features instead of short films. “It’s definitely safe to say that many short films made every year have double or triple the budget of our features,” he said.
Succession Returns: Despite recommendations from every type of person I’m friends with, I’ve yet to catch up on HBO’s wildly popular Succession. Despite my absence, the wealth satire returned for its third season last night. Shout out to HBO for continuing the weekly episode release strategy, something I wholeheartedly support, even when I can’t bear to wait another week to discover who the real killer is.
Despite not being caught up, I do enjoy this clip with Cousin Greg being force-fed an Ortolan songbird. Until now, I thought the fantastic bit was pure invention but upon searching for this clip, I also see it featured on Hannibal.
Main image (above): Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne in The Batman.
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