A new era of the Dark Knight is coming to fans soon in the form of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, a noir story featuring Twilight Saga star and the critically-acclaimed Good Time lead Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne. The 35-year-old actor shot his version of the beloved DC hero greatly over the COVID-19 pandemic in a shoot that lasted over a year, and his payday is reportedly less than one might think.
According to Variety, Robert Pattinson was paid $3 million to continue the legacy of Batman, and in comparison to some other major upcoming projects, that’s on the low end. Chris Pine, for example, is reportedly getting paid $11.5 million for his Dungeons and Dragons movie, Keanu Reeves is getting $13 million for Matrix 4 and Chris Hemsworth is getting $20 million to reprise Thor in the upcoming Marvel film Thor: Love and Thunder.
While $3 million is definitely a lot more than any of us would even see in a lifetime in one lump sum, it is kind of odd that Robert Pattinson, who has certainly brought in box office cash for the Twilight films, isn't getting paid on par with his colleagues. The Batman is reportedly costing Warner Bros $100 million to produce, but yes, he is acting against other big stars like Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Andy Serkis and John Turturro.
I think many of us would admittedly play Batman for free, but Robert Pattinson’s journey as the Caped Crusader sounds like it was an especially strenuous one. The actor had to stay in Batman shape for a lot longer than he had initially signed up for due to the unforeseen circumstances that stalled the production multiple times. He also contracted COVID-19 himself while working on The Batman, which also set back the film.
It’s possible that Robert Pattinson will make some money on the backend once The Batman hits theaters this spring. Robert Downey Jr was reportedly paid just $500,000 for his first appearance as Iron Man, but took home $2.5 million after the 2008 movie became a box office hit and kicked off the MCU. Downey would go on to allegedly make $75 million for Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
Robert Pattinson reportedly earned $25 million for the last two Twilight filmsm along with costars Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautnerm and 7.5% of the films’ gross revenue, per Vulture. But The Batman is a bit of a reboot for Warner Bros and it’s not a surefire blockbuster other than the fact that it’s a Batman movie. Also, Robert Pattinson primarily makes independent films these days, so making a movie like The Batman likely netted the actor a bigger paycheck than usual.
The Batman is coming to theaters on March 4, 2022. You can check out what other DCEU films are set to be released next with CinemaBlend’s guide to upcoming DC movies.
