The Batman Delayed to March 2022

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[h=1]The Batman Received Rewrite from Justice League Writer[/h]

Even though Wonder Woman and Justice League will be the DC Extended Universe’s next installments, all the recent noise has been about a different film: The Batman. Coverage of Ben Affleck’s relationship with the film has been all over the place, but he made one thing clear every step of the way: his goal is making a great Batman movie. As the scheduled start date for production began to loom, Affleck remained passionate about the project, but started to voice concerns over the workload of serving as writer, director, producer, and lead for a blockbuster movie.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was the first modern blockbuster Affleck has been involved with, and he said he learned a ton from Zack Snyder on set. Since then, Affleck has donned the cape and cowel again for an even bigger blockbuster, Justice League, and between juggling his responsibilities to the DCEU and writing, directing, and starring in his own project, Live by Night, Affleck likely got a glimpse of what was in store for him if he didn’t bring in help for The Batman. It’s likely Live by Night’s $75 million loss educated that decision as well. His statement on the matter of The Batman is fairly clear:


There are certain characters who hold a special place in the hearts of millions. Performing this role demands focus, passion and the very best performance I can give. It has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require. Together with the studio, I have decided to find a partner in a director who will collaborate with me on this massive film. I am still in this, and we are making it, but we are currently looking for a director. I remain extremely committed to this project, and look forward to bringing this to life for fans around the world.”

News of Affleck’s departure has been spread far and wide, but one detail seemed to get overlooked from Deadline‘s coverage: the script for The Batman got a rewrite from Chris Terrio. This marks the 3rd DCEU script to get the Oscar-winner’s treatment. Like everything in the DCEU this news will likely receive a split reaction from fans, as not everyone was impressed with Terrio’s screenplay for Batman V Superman.
While it’s understandable that not all fans will take this news positively, it’s important to note that this means the screenplay for The Batman will be a collaboration of two Oscar-winners and the President and CCO of DC Comics. It’s likely that there’s no other comic book movie that has had so much talent focused on its screenplay. Combined with the patience Affleck has shown in ensuring the script ready before rushing into production, this news means The Batman should at the very least have a rock solid screenplay. If it doesn’t, DC and Warner Bros. won’t have any excuses.
Since Terrio is an Affleck collaborator – he got his Oscar working on Argo – this may provide additional insight into just how much Affleck is owning on the production of The Batman. If Affleck’s decision to bring in another director truly allows him to give his best performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman, then whoever he brings in will have their work cut out for them with a quality screenplay and an energized lead.


Source: Deadline (h/t Comic Book)

 

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[h=1]The Batman: Fans Petition for Zack Snyder to Direct[/h]

Ever since Ben Affleck made his debut as The Dark Knight in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC fans have been waiting to see his own, standalone film as the character, currently titled The Batman. However, the film hit an unfortunate snag this week when it was announced that Affleck would no longer be directing The Batman, much to the dismay and disappointment of his fans. Instead, he will still star in it, produce it, and continue working on the script, presumably alongside DC Entertainment president, Geoff Johns.
Ever since the news of Affleck’s departure came out, multiple different names of filmmakers have been reported to be in talks to replace him, with War for the Planet of the Apes‘ Matt Reeves reportedly being one of the frontrunners. Still, that hasn’t stopped fans and even other filmmakers from sharing their choices to direct the film. Today, though, a vocal new faction of fans have decided who they want to direct The Batman, picking a name already immensely familiar to DC fans.


In a new petition posted to Change.org (h/t ScreenGeek), fans are calling for Batman v Superman and Justice League director Zack Snyder to be chosen by Warner Bros. as Affleck’s replacement. The petition’s creator, Jennifer Huneycutt calls the decision a “no brainer” due to Snyder’s “stellar record” adapting comic book and graphic novel properties. Additionally, Huneycutt claims having Snyder direct the film would help to bring a consistency and continuity to the DCEU, thanks to his familiarity with the world, characters, and inherent darkness of the Batman character. Started just recently, the petition already has 996 signatures.

Now, there’s no doubt this will be a controversial choice amongst both diehard DC fans and comic book fans in general. Snyder’s films in the DCEU have been divisive, to say the least, with both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman having its fair share of both defenders and haters. In fact, one of the biggest reasons fans are looking forward to this summer’s Wonder Woman standalone film is because it’ll give another filmmaker (Patty Jenkins) the chance to use the character in a film. Huneycutt’s argument that Snyder directing The Batman in order to retain a certain continuity between movies thus seems a bit strange – since the DCEU is just on the brink of having a whole slew of new films, directed by other talented filmmakers that aren’t Snyder.
But where Snyder has his naysayers, the filmmaker also has a large amount of fans who have been receptive to his directorial decisions within the DCEU so far; and he does have a level of familiarity with The Dark Knight that none of the other rumored or suggested names do. That said, the filmmaker is currently set to begin work on an original dramatic thriller, The Last Photograph, right after he finishes Justice League, which could make him doing The Batman difficult from a scheduling perspective alone. After spending so many years working within the DCEU as well, Snyder is likely eager to play around with some original titles again, which means it’s entirely possible that he wouldn’t be interested in directing The Batman, even if he was given the chance. It’s difficult to know, and at this point, The Batman‘s future remains as dark and mysterious as the Gotham City streets that The Dark Knight himself operates in.


Source: Change.org

 

[Leon]

I am going to sign it

Sent from my Infinix_X521 using Tapatalk

 

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[h=1]How Geoff Johns Can Keep The Batman On Track[/h]

The big news coming out of the still-fledgling DC Extended Universe is that Ben Affleck is no longer going to direct the next Batman solo film. The announcement came as something of a shock to the fandom, with some immediately concluding that the change of hands is terrible news for the DCEU.
While we can’t necessarily blame fans for immediately jumping to dire conclusions – we even said in a recent article that should progress falter on The Batman, the cinematic universe might be put on life support – in reality there is still much potential for the next Bat-flick to be something truly spectacular. And a successful Batman is certainly more than enough to guarantee a longer-lived DC Extended Universe, no matter what may come of this year’s Wonder Woman or Justice League, Part I.
This shouldn’t be the question facing DC nerds and comic-book-movie enthusiasts the world over right now. What they should be asking themselves instead is: does Warner Bros., the studio behind the meta-franchise, have a sufficient creative structure in place to handle such a transition behind the camera? And, in a corollary: is DC Entertainment President Geoff Johns the man to ensure that the new Bat-director, whoever it may be, can make the film even better than it would have otherwise been?
[h=2]A new director[/h]

Whereas in television the writer-producer is in ultimate charge of a production and its overarching narrative, in film it is typically the director who ultimately gets to call the final shots, both on the set and behind the scenes, during a script’s development and the story’s evolution. And as part of this wide creative berth, it is not unheard of for a new helmer to order a project’s screenplay to be rewritten (sometimes extensively and repeatedly), oftentimes with a brand-new writer who has a pre-existing relationship with the filmmaker.
This is, of course, more of a general rule than a hard-and-fast law, and there are a number of other individuals who can be involved in the preproduction process who may get a pretty definitive say in how things proceed – producers, executives, even stars. And when the film in question is part of a wider cinematic universe, as is quickly becoming the new standard in Hollywood, there are a whole host of new considerations and creative limitations that whatever director, freshly arrived or long in the trenches, must abide by. The Batman would ordinarily fall into this latter camp, meaning that Ben Affleck or Matt Reeves or whoever else would only have a limited amount of leeway in making changes to tone or direction or character.



Of the six main Hollywood players, however, Warner Bros. has long prided itself on being the filmmakers’ studio, the place where storytellers could get the most latitude to bring their vision to the big screen. This means that, even with the larger DCEU floating in the background, the helmers behind these interconnected movies have a far greater amount of control than they ever would over at, say, Marvel Studios, where directors have been known to split over creative differences. This potentially puts The Batman’s future narrative right back at square one, with the possibility for a change in everything from its location to the villain.

[h=2]Geoff Johns[/h]

In the massive fallout from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s hugely controversial release, Warners decided to make a change to its executive structure, assigning one individual to oversee one specific franchise, whether that be DC or Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. In the case of the former, Jon Berg became the shared world’s point man, but he was appointed alongside none other than Geoff Johns, the chief creative officer of DC Comics (who was subsequently promoted to president of DC Entertainment, as well).
As one of DC’s longest-serving writers and editors, it didn’t take Johns long to become co-writer on both The Batman and Aquaman, as well as script doctor on Wonder Woman. When we got the chance to speak to Ben Affleck and director Zack Snyder on the subject, they both enthusiastically stated that while Geoff was there to help provide answers and mythological context to their films, his vision was still subservient to that of the director’s, making him more binding agent than top-down manager.


This would, at first pass, seem to indicate that whatever new filmmaker comes unto the project would have carte blanche to do whatever he pleases to Affleck’s and Johns’s script, but all this information may actually indicate the opposite: despite his preference to reinforce the director’s vision, Johns – alongside Berg – will work, first and foremost, to keep the integrity of the story that they have all labored on for so long already (with, perhaps, some idiosyncratic flourishes being allowed to be sprinkled here and there on the surface). This scenario is made all the likelier with Affleck’s continued involvement as producer and actor on the film; given how “humiliated” he purportedly was by Batman v Superman, there’s just no way he’ll allow the film to proceed without his stamp of approval firmly attached to it.
All of which isn’t to mention the built-up fan expectations by this point, how late in the development process the movie already is, the continued lukewarm reception of DCEU properties (we’re looking at you, Suicide Squad), and the little fact that the two previous Batmans each hauled in $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Put simply, this is the first property that WB just isn’t allowed to mess up.
In fact, The Batman could very well serve to be the DC Extended Universe’s first example of the attached filmmakers being forced to mold themselves to the story instead of the other way around.
[h=2]Studio oversight vs. creative interference[/h]

There is, of course, a dark side to all this executive guidance, and it’s something that DCEU audiences have already become extremely accustomed to: studio management transforming into creative interference.
The stories are so prevalent as to be almost not worth rehashing here. It was Warner Bros. execs, the leaks say, who tinkered endlessly with Dawn of Justice, making the various Justice League cameos be shoehorned in. And Suicide Squad had multiple editors working on multiple cuts of the film in order to find the one that would be the most commercially palatable – filmmaking vision be damned.

Although it may be the case that the suits have learned their lesson by now and have left a wider berth for both Wonder Woman and Justice League, Part I, it could also very easily be that this last-minute shake-up behind the Bat scenes has made the execs jittery and, thereby, able to slip right back into their old habits, whether Geoff Johns is there or not to try and stop them. Should this be the case – should Johns and Affleck be rendered into door mats for the multi-billion dollar machine that the shared cinematic universe could still become – then it ultimately doesn’t matter who is sitting in the director’s chair, or who has been hired to whisper comic book trivia in his ear.
But it’s not too late for The Batman to become both the movie we want and the savior we need. In fact, if Johns is allowed to do his job, it’s still never been closer to becoming a reality.

 

[Spartan 117]

Maybe it's a good thing he is not directing. Maybe he just wants to focus as being the BATMAN instead of taking extra burden in creating the movie too. I would love it if Snyder directs it because knowing him, the Batman action scenes would be spectacular and it would look phenomenal, and if the studio doesn't but in, the story could be pretty good as well. BUT that will not happen.

Just hoping that they get a good enough director for it.

 

[XxRebellionxX]

Maybe it's a good thing he is not directing. Maybe he just wants to focus as being the BATMAN instead of taking extra burden in creating the movie too. I would love it if Snyder directs it because knowing him, the Batman action scenes would be spectacular and it would look phenomenal, and if the studio doesn't but in, the story could be pretty good as well. BUT that will not happen.

Just hoping that they get a good enough director for it.

Yeah, but Snyder always bottles the story up. The DCEU has been pretty mediocre up till now and for the love of God I hope they don't fuck up Batman.

 

[Spartan 117]

Yeah, but Snyder always bottles the story up. The DCEU has been pretty mediocre up till now and for the love of God I hope they don't fuck up Batman.

Not always, but he has a tendency for that. DCEU hasn't been mediocre for me tbh. I love Man of Steel, and BvS, despite its flaws, is still enjoyable for me. Suicide Squad sucked though.

And yeah, I really hope they don't screw it up.

 

[Bankabilla]

This whole DCEU being mediocre is just BS same as every DC movie seems to be a mess.Nobody tells you what the mess is but will say it is because hack critics coined that word to justify their nonsensical ratings for DCEU.Their movies have been doing well financially too,idiots even say BvS flopped financially which is stupid.

 

[manigamer]

i tihnk IF snyder takes on batman it may prove better BECAUSE snyder does DARK movie sbest, watchmen, 300 etc... so if he helms batman with GEOFF ofcourse this could be good....

 

[XxRebellionxX]

Not always, but he has a tendency for that. DCEU hasn't been mediocre for me tbh. I love Man of Steel, and BvS, despite its flaws, is still enjoyable for me. Suicide Squad sucked though.

And yeah, I really hope they don't screw it up.

I loved it as well, but man the pacing of BvS certainly left a lot to be desired. It was good, but it could have been a lot better. But yeah, Suicide Squad was a whole another level of turd. That was truly a shit movie

 

[Spartan 117]

I loved it as well, but man the pacing of BvS certainly left a lot to be desired. It was good, but it could have been a lot better. But yeah, Suicide Squad was a whole another level of turd. That was truly a shit movie

True. BvS had its fair share of flaws, some of which really annoy me when I re-watch it. Like screw the focus on Louis, give more screentime to Supes for pity's sake. Or doing the Doomsday storyline in the SECOND movie of your cinematic universe.

 

[Spartan 117]

This whole DCEU being mediocre is just BS same as every DC movie seems to be a mess.Nobody tells you what the mess is but will say it is because hack critics coined that word to justify their nonsensical ratings for DCEU.Their movies have been doing well financially too,idiots even say BvS flopped financially which is stupid.

Suicide Squad is definitely messy.

BvS has issues as well, but it also has tons of great stuff, which outweighs the flaws for me, hence why I love it.

Man of Steel is just great. It has really grown on me for the past couple of years via re-watches. I honestly think it is one of the best SuperHero origin movies we have gotten.

 

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The Batman: Warner Bros. Reportedly Seeking New Script & Creative Team

it was originally to be written and directed by Ben Affleck, doubt was cast on his commitment to the director’s chair during the press tour for Live by Night. Affleck eventually stepped down as director, saying, “It has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require. Together with the studio, I have decided to find a partner in a director who will collaborate with me on this massive film.” While Affleck is still voicing a commitment to acting in the movie, the script has already seen a rewrite by Batman V Superman writer Chris Terrio. While this news may seem to further alienate Affleck from the project, it should be noted that Terrio is a frequent Affleck collaborator. News that he had Terrio reworked the script shouldn’t be a huge surprise; however, a new report by Mark Hughes from Forbes suggests The Batman is headed for a “fresh start” once a new director is named. According to Hughes:

“…the project will undergo substantial changes and possible/probably another full rewrite. Warner Bros. is already speaking to several filmmakers about taking over in the director’s chair — including one of my personal longtime favorites to direct a Batman movie, Matt Reeves, who seems to be the frontrunner — and word is the project will essentially get a fresh start once a new creative team has been put together.”
​

The loss of Affleck as the film’s director appears to have opened up The Batman for plenty of retooling, which will likely be an effort to refocus the movie to better fit with the creative ambitions of whoever steps in to direct. Hughes mentions that Matt Reeves is still a frontrunner for the job, and given his experience with big-budget, effects-heavy blockbusters, like the last two Planet of the Apes films, it stands to reason that Reeves would want and deserve to be given a chance at a “fresh start” on the project, should he land the job.
It will be interesting to see how the various behind-the-scenes maneuverings impact the film’s upcoming production schedule and potential release date. With a new script likely in the works, it’s a good bet The Batman will find itself pushed back. At that point, the question will become: How will this affect Warner Bros.’ plans for the DCEU and its expansion moving forward?

 

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[h=1]The Batman: Warner Bros. & Ben Affleck ‘Very Happy’ With Current Script[/h]

2017 has been off to a rough start for The Batman. Thanks to a trying press circuit for Live By Night that saw Ben Affleck and Warner Bros. seemingly at odds with the current state of the project, the two parties officially made an announcement last week to try and make it easier on the actor-director. Affleck will no longer direct the standalone film, but he is still reportedly going to be heavily involved with process as a star and producer.
Further efforts to lighten Affleck’s work load led to Chris Terrio being brought on board to do a rewrite of the script that Affleck and Geoff Johns had previously written. Given Terrio’s previous work on Batman V Superman and the upcoming Justice League, news of him contributing to the solo Batman script was not surprising. However, it was recently reported that Warner Bros. is looking to give the incoming director and creative team a fresh start at the film by having the script rewritten, possibly from scratch. A new report refutes this claim, however.
Justin Kroll of Variety responded to a question on Twitter asking if The Batman is indeed scheduled for a page-one rewrite. Kroll’s sources claim the new script is already turned in and everyone, including Affleck, is happy with it. That said, the writer of the original report, Mark Hughes, responded to Kroll saying he still hears differently.

@BatmanNewsCom No, several sources already saying new script came in this month and everyone including Emmerich and Ben very happy with it
— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) February 9, 2017

@krolljvar @BatmanNewsCom My article actually said anything from big rewrites to a new script, which I'm still hearing from several sources.
— Mark Hughes (@markhughesfilms) February 10, 2017​

If Kroll’s sources are correct, this should be a calming report about the state of the project. Terrio has a long history with Affleck after writing the Oscar winning script for Argo, and the aforementioned DCEU films. With Affleck handing off scriptwriting duties to Terrio, his being reportedly happy with the rewrites is the first piece of positive news that has come Batman‘s way in about a month.However, with Hughes still saying his sources indicate a full rewrite is being considered, the conflicting reports make this something of a waiting game. Like they have done recently with the behind-the-scenes shake-ups on The Flash, and the new writer being brought on there, it is likely that Warner Bros. will make clear who is doing what in time. Hughes reported that Matt Reeves was still the frontrunner for the position of director. In that case, news of a new writer — if there is one — may well be made public when the studio officially announces a replacement for Affleck in the director’s chair, whether it’s Reeves or not.

Source: Justin Kroll​

 

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[h=1]Batman: Joe Manganiello Reveals Deathstroke Sword Training Techniques[/h]

The news surrounding the DC Extended Universe’s first stand alone Batman movie may be hectic recently, with back and forth rumors about Ben Affleck stepping aside as director finally coming to fruition, leading to additional speculation as to his future (or lack thereof) with the movie. Even if everything is going great, as the most recent update suggests (check back in five minutes), it’s hard to deny that efforts to build hype for The Batman movie have been an uphill battle.
It hasn’t all been that way, though. Just a few months ago, Affleck thrilled fans with the surprise release of video featuring test footage for Deathstroke, a character nobody even knew would be making an appearance in the DCEU any time soon, followed shortly by confirmation that the one eyed assassin would be in The Batman played by Joe Manganiello.
Much to the pleasure of DC fans, Manganiello has expressed a commitment to the role, tweeting pictures of his “research” in preparation for his role and giving a shout-out to DC Entertainment President and Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, with Deathstroke fan art. While tweeting a picture of a stack of comic books and labeling it “research” might sound like textbook lip-service for fans, it appears Manganiello was more than serious. In a recent interview on the Dragon Talk podcast, he revealed the full extent of his studies:



“I’m somebody that likes to start preparing way ahead of time. So I’ve read almost all the comic books involving him. Just to get the information out of them. Some of them are useful. Some of them are not going to be useful. Because ultimately the script—that’s my text. I have to play that.”

In addition to reading everything possible about the character, Manganiello has also shown a dedication to getting Deathstroke’s physicality right, doing training with swords and studying many other forms of martial arts:

I started katana training recently. Like live sword training and I started meeting with various martial arts teachers and discussing with them. ‘Ok, so what are the most offensive styles of martial arts’. Ones where you’re not waiting for someone to attack you but ones where you’re looking to make the attack. Then what are the most deadly ones? Where are the scrolls, the ancient Japanese scrolls that have these really deadly techniques that you don’t teach to the average student out the street? Something that only somebody who would go looking for it that are really really bad, you know, are dangerous. Like, what are those?
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Ok, so now what are the stances?’ What are like some really unorthodox stances that someone who learns say Ninjutsu would stand in? Ok, so now what if that person lost an eye? If that person lost an eye how would they then alter the stance so that you would have better peripheral vision. What would that look like? So then you start cooking, and then you start building a story. Kind of outside-in. That’s like a very physical way to build a story.”

Despite all of his reading and training, Joe clarifies that his performance will ultimately be dictated by The Batman script from Ben Affleck, Geoff Johns, and Chris Terrio:

Then on the other side of it, like I said, I’m looking at the script rather than the comic books. I mean the comic books are giving me a good general kind of area of what we’re talking about. Where this characters located. But the script is really like, you know. Because they might change the canon. There’s been like 3 or 4 different ways that he’s lost his eye. Are we doing one of those? Or are we doing it a completely new way? Like, I need to play that.”
​

While the Magic Mike alum is no stranger to geek fare, having played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (and Spider-Man 3) and the werewolf, Alcide Herveaux, on True Blood, this is the first role he’s been able to sink his teeth into in this way, and fans will no doubt be thrilled by his words. With a face hidden behind Deathstroke’s mask, Manganiello could easily outsource many of the more physical aspects of the character to a stunt double (which he likely will for some scenes), but his focus on getting every aspect of the character right means more than just finding the right voice. Deathstroke is the DC universe’s deadliest assassin, so it’s encouraging for fans to know that the man portraying the man under the mask may have actually undergone some of the same training as Slade Wilson.
Regardless of the state of The Batman, it’s also refreshing to get news about the movie that not only doesn’t revolve around Ben Affleck drama, but also shows that other people involved are passionate about making it a great movie.


Source: Dragon Talk [via CBM]

 

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[h=1]The Batman: Matt Reeves Confirmed to Direct[/h]

This year hasn’t been nice to The Batman, the first solo Bat-outing that is expected to take place in the still-fledgling DC Extended Universe. After months of rumors, Ben Affleck dropped out as the writer and director, with a new screenplay reportedly being rushed into development and, of course, the search for a new helmsman being conducted post-haste since Warner Bros. still wants the film to come out as quickly as possible.
Word immediately began to spread that Matt Reeves was on the short list for a directorial replacement, and now it has been made official – well, almost.
Variety is reporting that Reeves has agreed to direct The Batman, but no contract between the filmmaker and Warner Bros. has been signed as of yet.



Reeves, of course, is fast becoming something of a household name, and not just because of all the furious rumors that have been flying all over the internet these past few weeks; ever since he landed on most audiences’ radars with 2008’s Cloverfield (written by Daredevil co-creator Drew Goodard and executive produced by Star Wars: The Force Awakens’s J.J. Abrams), he’s become something of a maverick at taking over pre-existent, multi-billion dollar franchises, as has been evidenced by the current Planet of the Apes series (which he took over with the second installment, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and which he will continue with this summer’s War for the Planet of the Apes). It makes sense why the studio would eye him.

With questions of the director’s suitability out of the way, that just leaves the little areas of narrative and production. Let’s tackle the latter first: Variety notes that Matt Reeves is still currently in post-production with Apes, but that it will be ending soon (the film drops on July 14), allowing him to pick up prep work on The Batman in the very near future. This could mean that shooting might still begin sometime this year – the originally-targeted start date of May was already out the window, thanks to Affleck’s crowded calendar – which means that 2018 could still be a realistic timeframe for release.
But all this presupposes that the new draft of the screenplay can be finished to everyone’s satisfaction, and fast. Ben Affleck is still purported to have a “significant role” in the movie’s execution, from the story on down to its direction, so he’ll need to sign off, as well as DC Films head Geoff Johns and, now, Reeves. And while it’s hard to imagine the rewrite going too far afield from what’s already been laid down, given that Joe Manganiello has already been cast as Deathstroke and all, that’s still a lot of voices that need to be heard and minds that need to be in agreement. Given that Aquaman is currently scheduled to come out on October 5, 2018, and Shazam on April 5, 2019, that doesn’t leave very much time for all the Bat-stars to get in alignment.


Source: Variety

 

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[h=1]The Batman: Ridley Scott ‘In the Wings’ to Direct[/h]

Ben Affleck’s hardened, older take on the Caped Crusader in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is an element that both fans and detractors of the film seem to appreciate, if only in terms of his potential in future DC Extended Universe films. Affleck has already reprised his (extra) Dark Knight since then in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad and will return in a leading capacity later this year, in Zack Snyder’s Justice League movie. The character is also lined up to star in his own solo DCEU movie tentatively titled The Batman: a project that has gone through some much-publicized creative personnel changes of late.
Affleck spent much of the past year lined up to direct The Batman from a script that he co-wrote with DC Entertainment President Geoff Johns, but recently announced that he is stepping down as director, rather than attempting to handle the entire blockbuster on his own. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Cloverfield director Matt Reeves now appears to be all but officially confirmed to direct The Batman in Affleck’s place – but there are replacements waiting in the wings (no Bat-pun intended), should some unforeseen complication in Reeves’ dealmaking process arise.



THR‘s own report about Reeves unofficially committing to directing The Batman and entering official talks for the job, contains a little tidbit about who else is on Warner Bros. and DC’s shortlist to take the helm. The site not only mentions Evil Dead (2013) and Don’t Breathe helmsman Fede Alvarez as a possibility but perhaps even more intriguingly, the legendary Alien and Blade Runner filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott himself is identified as being another legitimate contender for the job.

Ridley Scott on the Alien: Covenant set



The mere possibility of Scott directing The Batman is all the more unexpected because it was less than two months ago (at the time of writing this) that Scott reiterated his longstanding disinterest towards the comic book superhero movie genre in general. Scott at the time also mentioned that the Blade Runner universe was, in term of its stylistic elements especially, akin to the heightened reality of a comic book film and that if a character such as Batman were ever featured in one of his film’s worlds, “I’d have a f**king good story, as opposed to no story!”
No doubt, there are Batman and/or DCEU fans out there who would be interested in seeing Scott bring the Noir-influenced aesthetic of Blade Runner to the DCEU in The Batman, not least of all because Affleck has indicated the film will focus heavily on the Dark Knight’s qualities as a detective. Scott’s potential involvement also indicates that he is either interested in The Batman story that Affleck, Johns and co-writer Chris Terrio have in place, or that those at WB and DC believe the current script draft is strong enough to entice Scott to climb onboard the superhero comic book bandwagon, at long last.
That being said, The Batman directing job is still Reeves’ to lose by most accounts and THR‘s own report states that the film’s script may or may not undergo a “significant revision,” depending on how things shake out. If nothing else though, the mention of Scott as a serious contender to direct the movie is worth contemplating, if only as a “What if?” type scenario.


Source: THR

 

[manigamer]

The Batman: Ben Affleck Reportedly Wants to Leave the Role

The Batman has been the source of much rumor as of late. Although never officially dated by Warner Bros., the upcoming solo film was expected to follow through on the praise Ben Affleck’s performance as the Dark Knight received from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. With the added attention the film would likely garner having an Academy Award winner staring, writing, producing, and directing the film, hopes were undoubtedly high for the project. That plan has since changed.
Word broke recently that Affleck would no longer direct the film, and that Matt Reeves will be his likely successor. With directing and most of the writing responsibilities of his plate, things seemed to be looking up for the film with Affleck’s workload being cut considerably. However, the latest rumor points to him wanting to eliminate that workload altogether.
On the latest episode of Collider Movie Talk, host John Campea stated he has heard from three separate sources involved with Warner Bros. over the last four days that Affleck is looking to leave the role of Batman. Along with a warning to take what he’s heard with a grain of salt, Campea said:

“Ben Affleck, make no mistake, he wants out. He doesn’t want to be Batman anymore.”
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Campea went on to say his sources tell him Affleck is in discussions with Warner Bros. to get out of his deal to continue playing the character, which includes The Batman, but if a deal cannot be reached in time, the solo film will be the last appearance he makes as the character.
Previous reports have pointed to the possibility of Affleck’s departure, despite public comments about his being committed to the project. Losing Affleck entirely would be a major blow to the cinematic universe Warner Bros. is building, leaving the studio in a difficult situation of having to recast arguably its biggest and most recognizable character.
Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns have been quiet throughout this entire process, which only fuels speculation about what, if anything, is actually happening behind the scenes of the film. For the sake of Warners, the DCEU, and fans, hopefully Affleck will play Batman for years to come and help boost the DCEU to new heights, but for now must wait and see how the situation surrounding The Batman unfolds.
As it stands, this information is a rumor and only a rumor. There is no indication that Campea’s sources are 100 percent reliable — a fact that even he acknowledges — and these kinds of scoops have been proven false in the past. Given the magnitude of what is at stake and the potential shakeup that a departure by Affleck would cause the DCEU, it is best to take this news as pure speculation until it is proven otherwise.

 

[Gintoki]

Well DCEU is going to be a huge flop, if Ben Affleck leaves.

 

[wAnxTa]

Ben Affleck leaving would be the final nail in the coffin for Dceu.