Matt Reeves' THE BATMAN Found Inspiration in CHINATOWN and It Will Start Shooting at End of the Year

A lot of fans are looking forward to seeing what director Matt Reeves has planned for The Batman. We know that the film will tell a Batman noir story that focuses on Batman in detective mode. And now we know one of the films that inspired the movie.

Reeves was asked on Twitter by a fan if one of the influences of his Batman film was Roman Polanski’s classic 1974 Chinatown, and this was his response:

I watched it at WB before writing... (For the one millionth time; what a great movie.) https://t.co/CxYMAYy53O

— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) March 15, 2019

If he watched the film right before writing The Batman, I’d say that it’s definitely one of, I’m sure, many noir films that inspired the director as he wrote the film. Also, Chinatown is considered by many to be one of the best noir films of all time.

If you’ve never seen Chinatown, here’s a little story summary:

When Los Angeles private eye J.J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by Evelyn Mulwray to investigate her husband's activities, he believes it's a routine infidelity case. Jake's investigation soon becomes anything but routine when he meets the real Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and realizes he was hired by an imposter. Mr. Mulwray's sudden death sets Gittes on a tangled trail of corruption, deceit and sinister family secrets as Evelyn's father (John Huston) becomes a suspect in the case.

It’ll be interesting to see how this movie will end up influencing The Batman. But like Chinatown, I’m sure the the story will be filled with twists and turns that will all come together in the big finale.

Reeves also revealed that the film will start shooting around the end of the year. This is in line with previous rumors that the movie could go into production in November.

Looking like sometime around year’s end.

— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) March 15, 2019

I imagine that casting for the film will happen soon, and it’s been reported that there will be at least four villain characters appearing in the movie.

Over the past few month it was reported that The Penguin could be the main villain in the film. The version of this Penguin is said to based on the Emperor Penguin version and he's been modeled after "a very dapper looking Richard Armitage." Other villains that have been mentioned as possibly being a part of the story include Two-Face, The Riddler, and Victor Zsasz. But none of those have been officially confirmed.

The Batman will be released in theaters on June 25th, 2021.