After the success of his Planet of the Apes trilogy, Matt Reeves had demonstrated that he could be trusted with the keys to his very own Batman movie. But like any good parent giving their kid an expensive car, Warner Bros wasn’t about to let him drive without insurance.
No, the esteemed studio had one rule that Reeves had to follow if he wanted to make his action movie; he had to make sure it was PG-13. Reeves admitted as much in an interview with Collider, explaining that the rule wasn’t much of an imposition as he didn’t intend on making The Batman an R-rated movie anyway.
“One thing [Warner Bros] did do, which was my intention from the beginning, was they said, “Look, it’s important to us that the movie be PG-13,” Reeves explained. “We want to make sure that we can get this… It’s a Batman movie, and we’re investing so much in it.” Thankfully Reeves’ experience on Planet of the Apes meant he was more than up for this challenge.
“In the Apes movies, I tried to sort of find that balance as well,” he continued. “They were meant to be sort of… They were obviously spectacle and grand entertainment, but there was a level of intensity. I felt like in that same way. I knew that we could push the boundaries of what you could do in a PG-13 movie and still deliver everything I wanted to do.”
Reeves’ take on Gotham’s most famous vigilante definitely isn’t afraid to explore the darker aspects of Batman especially when it comes to Batman villains. Thankfully the MPA – the body responsible for giving film ratings in the US – awarded the thriller movie a PG-13 certificate.
Unfortunately, the British censors, the BBFC, were slightly more prudish and gave the film a 15 certificate, much to Robert Pattinson’s surprise.
The Batman swings into theatres on March 4.