Picture this: You're a talented, very successful director that's mildly known and is preparing to direct what will likely be one of the biggest blockbusters of your career. Do you think you'll be able to resist any studio interference? Speaking to Uproxx,
War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves touched on his directorial style and how he's not going to compromise it, even on a giant blockbuster like a
Batman film.
"When I come in, what I say is, ‘Look. First of all, you’re asking me if I’m interested in this franchise. I am. I love this franchise. I’ve loved it since I was a kid. But here’s the way in which I’m interested in it. And if you’re not interested in it in that way, then that’s totally fine.’ And the good news was, they said, ‘Yeah, we’re really interested in that way.’ And I remember this on Dawn, too. There would be moments where I came in for a pitch that was a certain version of the movie, and somewhere along the way, because they didn’t know me or whatever it was, they’d say, ‘Why don’t we do this?’ And I would just simply say, ‘But that’s not the movie that we talked about. That’s not the movie I want to do.’ And I have to say that they always backed down when it came down to that. And it’s kind of the way that I’ve always done it. And here’s the thing: I’m always happy not to do something. I’m usually looking for the reason to say no.”
That might sound a bit harsh but Reeves goes on to explain that there's a perfectly justifiable reason behind his stance. If his film fails,he doesn't want it to be because he compromised and did something hedidn't believe in. He'd feel much better if he accomplished what he originally set out to do and it just didn't resonate with auidences.
“Well, because the thing is that it’s too hard. You spend too much of your time putting yourself into something, and for it not to work, that’s a nightmare, right? I can fail for every single reason because of myself. I don’t want to fail because of something that I don’t believe in in the first place – because I’m not going to know how to do it. I can respect that somebody else might know exactly how to do it. Like there are plenty of things that I’m not the right director for and I love to go see those movies. I love to see what people can do. But I can only do what I can do, and so I have to work from that perspective for self-preservation. It’s not out of any kind of like, 'Oh, my way or the highway', it’s because that’s the way I have to do it for me to feel confident in my choices. And so, I’m happy to part ways not even in an acrimonious way.”
The Batman is reportedly aiming for a 2019 release. Reeves has just recently confirmed that he's not using the script written by Ben Affleck and Geoff Johns. That's left some fans worried that Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke might no longer appear in the film.