New BATMAN film to be directed by Ben Affleck (1 Viewer)

[Brandon Conway]

And now Batman is starting from scratch.

http://collider.com/the-batman-new-script-release-date/#images

"Like with pretty much all of its DCEU movies, Warner Bros. isn’t having an easy time with The Batman. At the end of January, Ben Affleck decided he would not direct the superhero film, although he remains on board to star and produce. For months, Affleck said they were struggling to get the story right, and it looks like they never reached that point. Now Warner Bros. is throwing out the script as they look to hire a new director (Matt Reeves is reportedly the frontrunner at this point) to guide the creative vision of the film going forward."

Justin Kroll is saying this isn't the case. (Note that Collider's source for this "news" was Mark Hughes' article that merely speculated that this may happen if WB/Affleck weren't happy with the script revisions).

Batman Movie News: "any truth to the rumors that The Batman script is being redone from scratch?"

JK: "No, several sources already saying new script came in this month and everyone including Emmerich and Ben very happy with it."

https://twitter.com/krolljvar/status/829833962100908032

Kroll is the one who broke the news of Affleck leaving the director's chair, BTW. He's about as legit as it gets for these types of insider tips.

Hopefully they truly did fix the issues they had with the script and aren't just blowing smoke. Whether they truly fix a previous script to their liking or start over from the beginning, I don't really care. Just be really satisfied with the writing before moving forward.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Is the dysfunction with Warner Bros or DC? They seem to have an extremely difficult time getting these movies made, while Marvel remains in high gear.

Right now it's due to the executive shakeup. Timeline:

- WB outlines plans for DCEU in 2014. We'll call this the "Snyderverse" as a shorthand.
- BvS gets piled on by critics and fans. Snyderverse is essentially canned right then and there. Adjustments are: 1. Tweak Justice League so that it's stands essentially alone with MoS and BvS as a "trilogy", but has only the most general of hints towards future storylines. 2. Let WW play out as its essentially an origin story never told on film before. 3. Move forward with Aquaman because it's also essentially it's own thing not strongly tied to the DCEU macro-story (a macro-story that is being completely overhauled at the moment).
- All other future plans - in MCU terms, "Phase 2" - is scrapped.
- With Johns/Berg as heads of DC Films since May 2016 and Toby Emmerich as CCO at WB since December 2016, plan out the new "Phase 2", which appears to involve shakeups with Flash, Batman and the entire post-Aquaman slate.

The world wanted Hope and Change post-BvS. They're getting it. Gotta derail the Snyderverse train first, though, which is what we're currently in the middle of.

 

[Nigel P]

Agreed, I don't care how you get there, in this case there being having a good script, just make sure you get there.

 

[Sam Favate]

If this is true, it can't be blamed on the addition of Geof Johns as overseer for the DC films. Johns co-wrote the script with Affleck.

They just don't have it together.

 

[Stan]

I liked Affleck a lot more as Wayne than Batman. His Wayne conveyed a tired, beaten-down persona that fit with the premises of BvS. But I found his Batman to be too wooden, too mechanical, too robotic (OK, I think you get the point, LOL). Just my 3 cents.

Excellent comment. Catch the key word "wooden". Affleck is a terrible actor. Behind the scenes he's okay, but please don't put him in front of the camera

 

[Brandon Conway]

Justin Kroll of Variety is reporting that Matt Reeves has been offered the directing job (and will accept once contract details are hammered out).

Personally, I am VERY happy with this. Affleck is a strong director, but none of his films are action-effects or fight-choreography heavy like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is and Batman will need to be. Dawn also has a confident balance of action and character driven story. IMO, from a directing standpoint, this is an upgrade.

Now, here's hoping Kroll's recent tweet saying that the latest draft of the script is something both the WB execs and Affleck are very happy with is true. If Reeves is signing on right now that's a good sign that it is, though one would expect a few tweaks from Reeves through collaboration.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Excellent comment. Catch the key word "wooden". Affleck is a terrible actor. Behind the scenes he's okay, but please don't put him in front of the camera

IMO, Affleck isn't a terrible actor and he's more than okay behind the scenes.

 

[Stan]

IMO, Affleck isn't a terrible actor and he's more than okay behind the scenes.

That's what I love about HTF. We can all politely express our own opinions and have nice, decent conversations.

 

[Malcolm R]

Back to square one. Reports are that negotiations have broken down between director Matt Reeves and WB.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This thing is a fucking disaster.

 

[Tim Glover]

For me and I guess this is kind of Thread crapping & I'm not trying to but this whole Batman stuff was just way to soon after the critically acclaimed and fan loved Nolan films. They were and are masterpieces IMO.

A very tall order to make these effective.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Multiple insiders (Kroll, Gonzales, Hughes) basically saying this is Reeves' agent negotiating via the press. Doesn't mean he'll sign on, of course, but same thing happened with Coogler and Black Panther.

In any case, there's a Batman-as-lead movie coming out in November I care more about right now (Justice League) than a film that hasn't even started production.

 

[dpippel]

Matt Reeves has been officially announced as the new director for The Batman. He's this month's installment anyway... :

http://www.superherohype.com/news/391497-its-official-matt-reeves-will-direct-the-batman#/slide/1

 

[Scott Hart]

Matt Reeves has been officially announced as the new director for The Batman. He's this month's installment anyway... :

http://www.superherohype.com/news/391497-its-official-matt-reeves-will-direct-the-batman#/slide/1

I knew this would have been said already, but I have to make this a post.

Just wanted to let you know, before you let me know!