While The Weeknd is starring in his first feature film next month with Hurry Up Tomorrow, one of his old hits is inspiring a different film.
Matt Reeves, who directed 2022’s The Batman starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz, had previously told IGN that Pattinson’s titular character will be heartbroken in the beginning of the sequel, The Batman Part II. And earlier this month, Reeves told IndieWire: “The Weeknd’s ‘Call Out My Name’ was a big inspiration for what Bruce is dealing with when we see him again.”
“Call Out My Name” is the opening track from the Canadian-Ethiopian superstar’s 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy. The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. And the music video, which has surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube, starts off with the artist walking down an empty street before a cauldron of bats flies out from his mouth when he belts out the hook.
The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) posted a snippet of the IndieWire article on his Instagram Story on Wednesday (April 30) with the pair of eyes, broken heart and bat emojis. He later shared a still from the bat scene in his “Call Out My Name” visual and wrote, “lemme know if ya’ll want that seal moment” while Seal‘s smash “Kiss From a Rose” plays in the background of the IG Story slide.
“Kiss From a Rose” was initially released as the second single from Seal’s 1994 self-titled sophomore album, but didn’t gain much traction. Joel Schumacher, who directed the 1995 film Batman Forever, reached out to him about needing a song for a love scene between the late Val Kilmer as Batman and Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian and picked “Kiss From a Rose,” while later including it in the end credits and the film’s official soundtrack. Boosted by the film, the song eventually hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 and won best video for a film at the MTV VMAs that year, as well as three Grammys for record of the year, song of the year and best male pop vocal performance in 1996.
The Batman Part II is currently slated for a theatrical release on Oct. 1, 2027.
