"The Batman" - NO SPOILERS

[Catwoman]

http://www.cbr.com/report-the-batman-will-get-fresh-start-when-new-director-boards/?utm_source=CBR-FB-P&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_campaign=CBR-FB-P&view=list

[The Dark Knight]

The major script rewrite rumor is fake news.

http://batman-news.com/2017/02/09/the-batman-script-warner-bros-affleck-happy/

[Travesty]

Matt Reeves is directing. Good choice. Can't wait to hear more about it.

[johnnygobbs]

Matt Reeves is directing. Good choice. Can't wait to hear more about it.

He is indeed a good choice with a solid track-record, including Cloverfield and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

But I'm still a little bit bummed out about Ben Affleck quitting as director.  Here was a guy who'd directed a Best Picture Oscar winner, and up until Live By Night, had an impeccable filmography as a director of sophisticated and highly praised non-genre films.  I'd have loved to have seen what the guy behind Argo and Gone Baby Gone might have done with these characters.

Anyway, Reeves is still highly likely to maintain his consistent track-record, but does anyone know if he's a Batman fan?  Has he previously expressed any particular feelings about the character?

[The Dark Knight]

Matt Reeves is directing. Good choice. Can't wait to hear more about it.

The film is gathering pace now. Affleck vacating the director's chair could've bogged things down, but thankfully that didn't happen. They've found someone quickly, and the choice itself seems fine with me. I'm also cool with this because Affleck is still going to have input - he co-wrote the script. And as we know, they're happy with the script now.

This is happening.

[Travesty]

Hmmmmmmm.....

[johnnygobbs]

Just as well the report stated that there was only a 99.9% chance that Matt Reeves would be director of The Batman.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/391005-batman-negotiations-with-director-matt-reeves-reportedly-break-down#/slide/1

Honestly, this franchise is going from bad to worse.  It seems no decent filmmaker wants to touch it with a barge pole, which doesn't bode well for its long-term future.  I guess no one wants to be lumbered with Zack Snyder's disastrous vision.

[Travesty]

The only directors that dropped out were Affleck and Reeves. Affleck is understandable why he wouldn't want to. Reeves probably has his own reasons. There's been plenty of directors who drop in and out of movies. We had a bunch who dropped out before we got Nolan.

I'm just in a "wait and see" mode. It seems people have been picking this movie apart, and all we've had are rumors, for the most part. I don't know why, but comic book fans get incredibly hostile with just the tiniest bit of info. People had meltdowns over Antman directors dropping out. I dunno, maybe it's because I'm a lot busier these days, but this news doesn't really bother me. If Affleck drops out of playing Batman, then I'll start to get vocal, but right now, they're just shopping directors. This stuff happens.

[johnnygobbs]

The only directors that dropped out were Affleck and Reeves. Affleck is understandable why he wouldn't want to. Reeves probably has his own reasons. There's been plenty of directors who drop in and out of movies. We had a bunch who dropped out before we got Nolan.

I'm just in a "wait and see" mode. It seems people have been picking this movie apart, and all we've had are rumors, for the most part. I don't know why, but comic book fans get incredibly hostile with just the tiniest bit of info. People had meltdowns over Antman directors dropping out. I dunno, maybe it's because I'm a lot busier these days, but this news doesn't really bother me. If Affleck drops out of playing Batman, then I'll start to get vocal, but right now, they're just shopping directors. This stuff happens.

But that's my fear.  If WB can't find a decent director who wants to take on this film, Affleck will drop out.   There are already some rumours circulating that's he's planning on doing so in any case (but simply staying schtum until the release of Justice League).

[Silver Nemesis]

Warner Bros also lost two directors for The Flash. Seth Grahame-Smith quit the movie in April 2016 over "creative differences", and his replacement Rick Famuyiwa quit the following October. When a studio drives four directors away from a franchise in less than nine months, that usually suggests a problem with the management. And that's further proof of what I've been saying for years – that Warner Bros just isn't competent to get the most out of the DC licence. The ideal scenario for DC would be for WB to sell the rights to another studio, or better yet for DC to develop its own autonomous film production company similar to Marvel Studios. As long as the accountants at WB are making creative decisions, the franchise will never reach its full potential.

But that's my fear.  If WB can't find a decent director who wants to take on this film, Affleck will drop out.   There are already some rumours circulating that's he's planning on doing so in any case (but simply staying schtum until the release of Justice League).

I'm still sceptical that will happen. But if Affleck really is trying to get out of the franchise, then we should expect WB to announce a delay in the filming of The Batman. According to the most recent reports, filming is meant to commence in spring 2017. I can't see that happening when they still haven't even hired a director yet. So summer seems a more likely bet now. But if WB announces filming is delayed until after Justice League's release, then that's a sure sign the rumours of Affleck quitting have weight to them. WB won't want to announce his departure until after JL comes out in case it impacts the box office, so they'll cite script rewrites, director problems or scheduling conflicts as an excuse. But a significant delay in the filming schedule will most likely betoken Affleck's departure.

Of course we haven't reached that stage yet, and there's no reason to assume it will come to that. But one thing's for sure - they need to get a move on and hire a director. Time's running out if they want to meet their 2018 release date.