The Batman will be revealed in a special screening at the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival (VMDIFF), taking place on February 28. The showing comes before the general Irish cinema release date of March 4.

The newest iteration of DC Comics' iconic masked-vigilante stars Robert Pattison as Bruce Wayne, alongside Zoë Kravitz's Catwoman and Colin Farrell as Batman's nemesis, The Penguin.

Directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman is dark, gritty and uncompromising — promising to be a thrilling reinvention of the Dark Knight. Featuring sweeping shots of Gotham, intense fight scenes and the iconic winged beacon, the film is not one to miss.

"We are delighted and honoured to present a very special screening of The Batman; easily the most eagerly awaited movie of the year," said Gráinne Humphreys, director of VMDIFF. "Among the incredible cast, we would like to make a special shout out to our festival friend Colin Farrell, whose career we have supported since his very early films, and we are beyond excited to share his new film with Irish audiences."

The Batman joins other VMDIFF films, the likes of festival opener An Cailín Ciúin, single-shot Belfast thriller Nightride and psychological horror flick You Are Not My Mother. 

"We have worked with Warner Bros. for many years and we recognise their support for our festival by adding this film to our line-up," said Humphreys. "A huge thank you to Matt Reeves and the Warner Bros. team in Dublin for working with us to allow us to present the film."

Tickets are on sale for the festival now, and can be purchased here.

Read Farrell and Kravitz's discussion of The Batman in the newest edition of Hot Press Magazine, available now.

Celebrated for her roles in the like of HBO hit Big Little Lies and George Miller’s landmark blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road, 33-year-old Zoe Kravitz was similarly enthused about the prospect of playing Selina Kyle, AKA Catwoman. The actress also relished the opportunity of uncovering new layers to the character.

“I had this superficial idea of Catwoman,” she reflects to Hot Press. “It’s iconic. It’s sexy. It’s cool. We like her. It was those kinds of ideas. What was special was getting to read the script and actually allowing all of those ideas to fall away. It’s a very complex story that Matt’s written, and he was talking about Chinatown and Klute, and some of the most fascinating female characters that I’ve ever seen on screen.

“Also, what was so cool and helpful was that I was really able to forget about Catwoman and who she is in culture. It was interesting to forget about all of that and just focus on this incredibly complex female character he’d created. To play someone so strong and yet really vulnerable at the same time… it’s really nice and refreshing to be able to play a female character who’s strong, and yet doesn’t have to be masculine in any way, but is still able to be tough. That’s a really interesting space, I think. 

“It was also really important to me and Matt not to victimise her and not to turn this character into any kind of stereotype or fetishise her, because she is this icon in so many ways. I thought, ‘I want to strip all of that away, and I want to really understand who she is.’ There’d be moments where I would be reading the script, and my heart would break for her. Really, this person’s been through so much pain, and I’d allow that to be my way in to telling her story.”