Affleck Batman Movie: Will ‘The Batman’ Get Made And Will Affleck Quit Role?
The Ben Affleck Batman movie looks like it’s in trouble again, with the Hollywood Reporter stating that the latest prospective director – Matt Reeves – left the bargaining table with Warner Bros. Following Ben Affleck’s decision not to direct The Batman himself, Warner Bros. hoped to find an experienced director like Reeves to take over the project, but now the Batman movie is rudderless again. Rumors are even swirling that Affleck wants out of the role of Batman.
Audiences Loved the Affleck Batman
Movie fans and critics alike – regardless of what they thought about Batman v Superman as a movie – largely agreed that Ben Affleck’s Batman was almost perfect. Yet despite this, Affleck seems to have been extremely disappointed in how the movie was received – resulting in the Internet explosion of “sad Affleck” memes.
Aside from this appearance in Batman v Superman, Affleck’s Batman also popped up in a few very brief scenes in Suicide Squad. Perhaps because Batman’s role in this otherwise mediocre movie was minimal at best, Affleck did nothing to damage the public anticipation for a future Affleck Batman movie.
This solo project – dubbed The Batman by Warner Bros. – would not only star Ben Affleck as Batman, he would also be directing, producing and even cowriting the movie. Given that Affleck has directed an Academy award-winning movie, fans were virtually salivating at the idea of an Affleck directed The Batman.
New Affleck Batman Movie Director Needed
Several months ago, then Affleck had indicated that the script was going well but that he wouldn’t move forward until it was perfect. Things seem to be going pretty well for the project, with no indications of stress between Affleck and Warner Bros.
Unfortunately, two months ago there were indications that Affleck either wasn’t getting along with the studio anymore or the script wasn’t coming together – or both. Finally, at the end of January, Affleck step down as the director on the project. He would still supposedly star in and produce The Batman, but someone else would have to direct.
Warner Bros. seems to have looked at a range of directors to replace Affleck, but their first choice was apparently Matt Reeves, who had directed the highly successful sequel to Planet of the Apes. But now that this deal seems to have fallen through as well, Warner Bros. has to go back to fishing for a director again.
More Problems for the Affleck Batman
Movie script problems are never good, but they don’t necessarily indicate a disaster. Even so, the news that the script that Affleck was working on was apparently not satisfactory and that it was being rewritten was a bit alarming. To get things back on track, Warner Bros. brought in Chris Terrio – who had written both Argo and Batman v Superman – to rework the script.
However, little more than a week ago we learned that the entire script was being thrown out and Warner Bros. was starting again from scratch. All of this means that – even assuming they can find a director to take over the lurching ship that is the Affleck Batman movie – the release date they set for The Batman will almost certainly not be met.
End of the Road for Affleck
Batman movie roles don’t come along every day, and Ben Affleck wanted to be Batman since before he appeared in the poorly received Daredevil. Affleck even has his own Bat Cave at his house. Even so, a number of commenters have suggested that Affleck may want to part ways with the role of Batman much sooner than anyone would have expected.
Even aside from the problems he’s facing in his personal life, Affleck seems to be incredibly frustrated with how poorly received the DC movies are with both critics and the general public. For a man who has achieved so much success in recent years as a director, being associated with mediocrity – or worse, failure – probably doesn’t sit too well. This means that the first solo Affleck Batman movie may just turn out to be the last.
[Featured Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images]
