Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Now this is some crazy late-hitting news. Ben Affleck has stepped down as director of the standalone Batman movie, per THR.
He will still be starring and producing, but no longer directing. His statement on it lays blame on his high standards for the character and that it's clear to him that he can't give 100% to the character if he's also directing, so he's going to find a new director to "partner with."
There's a few ways to read this. Affleck has said repeatedly that he wouldn't direct this standalone Batman movie if the script wasn't right and even as far back as last summer when I was on the set of Justice League he was saying that they've had some drafts that aren't right and he keeps sending them back.
So, read #1 is that he never got the script he's 100% happy with and doesn't want the blame if the movie is less than perfect.
Read #2 is that WB got cold feet on his abilities after taking a $75 million write-off on his last directorial outing Live By Night.
The reality might be a combination of the two. You've got to assume WB wants this movie out ASAP and if Director Affleck keeps delaying waiting for the right script (which they might or might not agree on anyway) then Live By Night flopping could be the perfect excuse for them to move on.
Either way, Affleck must have a pretty iron clad contract to appear as the Caped Crusader, so he's in front of the camera no matter what.
Variety's reporters said they've heard that Matt Reeves as at the top of Warner Bros' list to step in and that'd be a hell of a choice. My gut instinct when I read the news was that WB should reach out to Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin, Green Room). Can you imagine if they did a Batman trapped in Arkham Asylum style escape movie with Saulnier directing? Perfection.
Affleck stepping down as director isn't great news. I was very much looking forward to his full on Batman movie in large part because I thought he might be one of the only directors WB could hire that could force the studio to let their creative vision shine. He also happens to be a very talented filmmaker.
The DCEU took a bit of a blow today. Let's see how this project rolls with this particular punch.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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