It’s a great time to be a Claire Denis fan. After delivering two (severely underrated) movies in one year with Both Sides of the Blade and Stars at Noon, she’s prepping a pair of new projects. In between, the stunning new restoration has arrived for No Fear, No Die, her 1992 feature pitting Alex Descas and Isaach de Bankolé in the world of cockfighting. In celebration of the new restoration, she’s now revealed what it might take to convince her to join the superhero fold and reteam with her High Life star Robert Pattinson to direct a Batman movie.
Not even pressed with a superhero-related question unlike the plethora of outlets that seem required to ask every auteur, Denis revealed to Screen Slate, “I watched The Batman [2022] because Robert Pattinson is a friend. Of course, it’s a lot, a lot, a lot of post-production. A crew of 300. But the work inside, the way Robert thinks about Batman—I like the way he constructed his Batman. It’s the rest of it—the effects, the crowds, the post-production, it’s like two films in one. There’s the Batman story, which is very intimate and delicate, and then the rest.” She added with a laugh, “I would do a Batman if I could do it without the rest.”
Denis also spoke about Hollywood at large, adding, “Hollywood was a school, though. Hollywood is full of little secrets and details. I remember so many Hollywood movies. We learned so much from Hollywood. For me it’s very precious. We learn, of course, from Japan, from Europe, too. But my point is I don’t reject Hollywood. I think some of the most rebellious film directors were working within Hollywood—and these were my heroes.”
Matt Reeves, the ball is in your court now. As for Pattinson’s schedule, he’ll be donning the batsuit early next year for production on the 2026 sequel, but in the meantime he will stay in the realm of indie productions, teaming with Lynne Ramsay and Jennifer Lawrence for Die, My Love.