UPDATE: The merger closed, and DC made Skydance’s Day One franchise rundown, with Reeves as the long Batman play.
Matt Reeves isn’t going anywhere.
Three weeks ago, CBN’s sources said incoming WB owner David Ellison is “GOING ALL IN on Batman” to bring people back to DC, adding, “They’re really high on Reeves,” with a big push for Reeves’ projects expected as the merger closes.
Now Reeves has new paperwork at the studio.
“BIG PLANS,” said our source about the announcement. “They’re giving him whatever he wants.”
Variety reports Reeves and his 6th & Idaho production company have signed a new overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. The two sides first teamed up in 2020.
An overall deal means Warner Bros. pays to be the exclusive home for Reeves’ television projects. Whatever show he develops next, the studio produces it.
“Matt has a true knack for getting into the psyche of his characters and he and his team have delivered some of the most compelling, thought-provoking stories over the years,” Warner Bros. TV Group chairman Channing Dungey told Variety.
The Arkham Asylum Connection
The deal has already delivered The Penguin, the Emmy-winning HBO Max series that spun out of The Batman.
It’s also the paperwork Reeves’ next Gotham show runs through.
Per our August report, Ellison wants Reeves to deliver an Arkham Asylum series trilogy on top of finishing his Batman film trilogy.
The series was Reeves’ original plan before DC Studios stepped in, and our insiders say it’s back on at HBO.
A Reeves television series gets made at Warner Bros. TV. Today’s re-up keeps that pipeline in place for whoever ends up owning the studio.
His movie side runs on a separate track: The Batman Part II is shooting now, dated February 18, 2028.
Signed While The Merger Waits
The re-up lands with Warner Bros. Discovery still waiting on its sale to Paramount Skydance to close.
Dungey said the corporate uncertainty hasn’t touched her programming decisions. The studio also re-signed The Pitt producer John Wells this summer, and its roster of overall deals includes Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence, Chuck Lorre and Mindy Kaling.
The only thing mentioned in relation to Gunn’s DCU is The People vs. Gorilla Grodd, which is now shooting.
The Push Is Still Coming
This week, the same sources laid out the television side of Ellison’s plan: DC TV as big as Spider-Man, not Lanterns.
And the August report goes further than today’s deal. Once the merger closes, per our source, Paramount wants Reeves and Robert Pattinson on production deals “that rival Marvel stars.”
Today’s re-up is with the current Warner Bros. The bigger paperwork waits on the close.
Where Reeves’ shows stream is its own question. CBN reported this week that HBO Max itself may not survive the merger.
Also from the Dungey interview: Warner Bros. confirmed it will replace Sam Register as animation boss — and Paramount already knows.
