Affleck Co-Writing and Directing Standalone Batman Film

[Silver Nemesis]

Affleck's starting to sound hesitant about the Batman solo film:

"[Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice] isn't, to me, a stand-alone Batman movie. Batman's in it, and I think that's okay. But I wouldn't do another just Batman movie right on top of Chris and Christian's movies, I would just want a little more distance."

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/ben-affleck-talks-about-the-possibility-and-timing-181815492.html

Maybe the negative reaction to BvS is getting to him. Regardless, it looks like we may have to wait a while for Batman's next solo outing.

[johnnygobbs]

Affleck's starting to sound hesitant about the Batman solo film:

"[Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice] isn't, to me, a stand-alone Batman movie. Batman's in it, and I think that's okay. But I wouldn't do another just Batman movie right on top of Chris and Christian's movies, I would just want a little more distance."

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/ben-affleck-talks-about-the-possibility-and-timing-181815492.html

Maybe the negative reaction to BvS is getting to him. Regardless, it looks like we may have to wait a while for Batman's next solo outing.

If Affleck wants to swiftly redeem himself for yet another CBM failure on his CV he could do a lot worse than make a solo Batman outing that has zero to do with BvS, apart from his and Jeremy Irons' casting, his next priority as a filmmaker.

By all accounts so far, Affleck as Batman/Bruce Wayne is emphatically not the problem with this movie.

[Wayne49]

I don't think Affleck will touch a solo Batman film if this movie tanks after this weekend. I know we can all point to the fact he is not taking blame for his participation in this movie, but as an actor he would be tied to the brand that failed and he will not take a chance of assuming fans will simply attach themselves to a standalone film which would need so much distance from this project it may not be worth it. I think he'll walk away for the sake of his career and call it a day with this genre. I think as an actor I would too.

It's worth noting his universally panned Daredevil depiction (which I personally liked in the director's cut version) finished with a 44% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. BVS is currently sitting at 33% at the time of this post and probably will get another 100 plus reviews before finding the bottom. It's also worth noting the audience score, which is composed of only the diehards right now, have it at 79% before the film even opens to the general public. So after the frontloaded ticket sales of this weekend, (which will surely be good), this film is positioned to fall off a cliff. I don't think Affleck wants anymore jokes at his expense. It could be plausible that Henry Cavill joins him. Superman actors tend to get typecast.

[johnnygobbs]

It would be a terrible irony if Affleck and Cavill were to depart this franchise only to leave us with Snyder still at the helm of the next Justice League movie.

Now, one might say that WB, if it had any collective sense, would just cancel the entire DCEU and reboot, but Suicide Squad is still awaiting release, Wonder Woman is in post-production and it's highly possible that the first JLA may be too far into pre-production to permanently cancel.  Affleck and Cavill publicly quitting the franchise now would be a serious blow not simply to the entire DCEU project (no biggie bearing in mind how it has developed so far), but to upcoming films that WB has already invested several millions in.

[Wayne49]

It would be a terrible irony if Affleck and Cavill were to depart this franchise only to leave us with Snyder still at the helm of the next Justice League movie.

Now, one might say that WB, if it had any collective sense, would just cancel the entire DCEU and reboot, but Suicide Squad is still awaiting release, Wonder Woman is in post-production and it's highly possible that the first JLA may be too far into pre-production to permanently cancel.  Affleck and Cavill publicly quitting the franchise now would be a serious blow not simply to the entire DCEU project (no biggie bearing in mind how it has developed so far), but to upcoming films that WB has already invested several millions in.

I think the studio will not move forward with any future plans until they know if they will be solvent with this project. I don't see anything connected with this movie getting made if it craters after a big opening weekend. The company's very existence is on the line. So BVS has to salvage something during it's run. But if it puts up another MOS result (or possibly less), you can write Snyder off the books. And yep, I've heard about Justice League starting in two weeks after this films release. Don't hold your breath. That's hype. Snyder is being butchered for this film's problems. I don't see WB letting him keep the reigns if the public falls into agreement with the critics. And as much hype as what the studio will try to salvage from this weekend's big numbers that are essentially already built in, it's the following days and weeks that will tell the story. Next weekend especially. If it falls by more than 65 to 70%, I think everything connected with the movie gets placed on hold and Snyder is ceremoniously fired. Perhaps not publicly but quietly. Lots to watch here.

[BatmAngelus]

Affleck's starting to sound hesitant about the Batman solo film:

"[Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice] isn't, to me, a stand-alone Batman movie. Batman's in it, and I think that's okay. But I wouldn't do another just Batman movie right on top of Chris and Christian's movies, I would just want a little more distance."

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/ben-affleck-talks-about-the-possibility-and-timing-181815492.html

Maybe the negative reaction to BvS is getting to him. Regardless, it looks like we may have to wait a while for Batman's next solo outing.

Damn, I hope it's not the case where he drops out of doing a solo Batman film. His portrayal in BvS plus his track record really make me think he has the potential to make a really solid Batman movie.

[johnnygobbs]

I think the studio will not move forward with any future plans until they know if they will be solvent with this project. I don't see anything connected with this movie getting made if it craters after a big opening weekend. The company's very existence is on the line. So BVS has to salvage something during it's run. But if it puts up another MOS result (or possibly less), you can write Snyder off the books. And yep, I've heard about Justice League starting in two weeks after this films release. Don't hold your breath. That's hype. Snyder is being butchered for this film's problems. I don't see WB letting him keep the reigns if the public falls into agreement with the critics. And as much hype as what the studio will try to salvage from this weekend's big numbers that are essentially already built in, it's the following days and weeks that will tell the story. Next weekend especially. If it falls by more than 65 to 70%, I think everything connected with the movie gets placed on hold and Snyder is ceremoniously fired. Perhaps not publicly but quietly. Lots to watch here.

But going back to my earlier post, whilst I do agree with you that WB is most likely going to indefinitely postpone its Justice League movie, it has still got Suicide Squad out in a few months, and Wonder Woman is pretty much completed (as today's 'Entertainment Weekly' cast photo indicates).  Where does the BvS situation leave those movies?  As entirely separate entities perhaps?

[riddler]

It would be a terrible irony if Affleck and Cavill were to depart this franchise only to leave us with Snyder still at the helm of the next Justice League movie.

Now, one might say that WB, if it had any collective sense, would just cancel the entire DCEU and reboot, but Suicide Squad is still awaiting release, Wonder Woman is in post-production and it's highly possible that the first JLA may be too far into pre-production to permanently cancel.  Affleck and Cavill publicly quitting the franchise now would be a serious blow not simply to the entire DCEU project (no biggie bearing in mind how it has developed so far), but to upcoming films that WB has already invested several millions in.

On your first point; it would make it brutally obvious that WB/DC doesn't listen to it's fans if they let Affleck and Cavill walk and Snyder stay.

Suicide Squad and Wonder Women are going to happen, maybe if BvS fails but those two succeed it will make the solution obvious; nix Snyder. With respect to canceling JLA1, Superman Lives was further into pre production and stil got nixed so I wouldn't say it's a foregone conclusion that JLA1 will go ahead as scheduled just yet.

[BatmAngelus]

Let's hope SS and WW are way better. I think the positive reception to Affleck & Gadot in BvS combined with Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman would definitely increase demand for more Batman and Wonder Woman movies, at least.

If WB decides to learn from BvS, Snyder will be fired and plans for JL and Superman will be put on hold until they find someone worthy to steer that ship. Until then, Cavill's Supes may be relegated to the same status as Marvel's Hulk (though hopefully not with the recasting that followed), where he'll only be in the team-up movies or make appearances in the other heroes' movies.

[johnnygobbs]

Let's hope SS and WW are way better. I think the positive reception to Affleck & Gadot in BvS combined with Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman would definitely increase demand for more Batman and Wonder Woman movies, at least.

If WB decides to learn from BvS, Snyder will be fired and plans for JL and Superman will be put on hold until they find someone worthy to steer that ship. Until then, Cavill's Supes may be relegated to the same status as Marvel's Hulk (though hopefully not with the recasting that followed), where he'll only be in the team-up movies or make appearances in the other heroes' movies.

That sounds like an ideal strategy for the not-so-ideal situation WB is in, but it may depend on how Affleck feels about resuming the role following the failure of BvS.  I just hope the word is made clear to him that whatever BvS's failures, he most definitely isn't one of them (or so I gather).

I also hope that Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman will come to be seen as the first two films in a reconfigured DCEU, and that no one will be obliged to have seen MOS or BvS in order to appreciate the upcoming films and, assuming SS and WW are as decent as we're hoping/expecting that they are, any follow-up films that arise.

With respect to SS and WW, it does feel that many of us, myself included, feel a lot more confident about the early word/advance footage, as well as the general talent involved, on these films than we were with respect to BvS.  One can often have an intuition about whether a comic-book movie will turn out to be half-decent quite early in its production, and just as I was fearing the worst for last year's Fantastic Four and BvS, and conversely, feeling very positive about Guardians of the Galaxy from a few years back, I am at least cautiously optimistic rather than particularly fearful about how SS and WW will turn out.  I'm not claiming to be some prophet when it comes to these movies, but my instincts have tended to be fairly accurate lately, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one here who has found their expectations, both good and bad, entirely validated.