DCEU’s Batman standalone film may finally have a start date. So much of the film has been surrounded in secrecy that even its title, The Batman, isn’t even confirmed. We know that Ben Affleck will star, write, and direct the film. But aside from the two dates that Warner Bros. has reserved for two untitled DCEU films, it’s not clear when the film will hit theaters.

Now Joe Manganiello, who is set to play Deathstroke, says the film is expected to start shooting next year. Check out the full story below.

Manganiello revealed the start date to ET, saying The Batman starts to shoot next spring. Typically, it takes about a year and a half to shoot, edit, and approve the final cut, making it all the more likely that the film could open on October 5, 2018. WB also has November 1, 2019 circled on their calendar for another yet-to-be-announced DCEU film. Keep in mind that the studio has not announced when they will be releasing the next Batman movie yet.

The amount of secrecy surrounding the film is surprising, with WB announcing that Affleck would direct the film at SDCC. Considering that both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad did not play well with critics, but both are among the highest grossing films of the year, it’s no surprise that we don’t know as much about the film as we should. The studio does like to give out a lot of their big news during events like SDCC, so perhaps we will learn more about it by then. This only shows that WB wants to make sure that they get it right. After all, Batman is practically their flagship character for the DCEU.

Until then, fans will just have to sit through highly anticipated films like Wonder Woman (June 2, 2017) and Justice League (November 17, 2017), and hope that The Batman opens in theaters in 2018, alongside The Flash (March 16, 2018) and Aquaman (July 27, 2018). If not, we can always wait until November 1, 2019.

We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on any developments should they come in.

[Source: ET]