• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Variety: Ben Affleck steps down as director of 'The Batman'

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Blader

Member
So even if Justice League is a huge hit and it's full steam ahead on all DCEU projects, this leaves 2018 pretty empty doesn't it? Aquaman is on track for an October release, maybe Gotham City Sirens, too, depending on when that starts up.
 
D

DeathoftheEndless

Crashing this plane... with no survivors!
Affleck has had a rough go of it recently and he hasn't directed a movie this big before, so it wouldn't surprise me if the pressure got to him.

Aquaman is set to start filming pretty soon, so it'll be interesting to see if the production is mysteriously pushed back until after Justice League releases.
 
E

Evil's Bane

Member
Evans would need more time than the Hollywood Superhero production cycle would ever allow nowadays. If WB was willing to wait on a potential masterpiece they should go for it but it doesn't look like that's the case.
 
M

moltonasty

Member
I like some of Affleck's directing work a lot, but I don't see this as a bad thing at all. Everything he said is 100 % true.

He should focus on giving the best performance possible rather than juggling writing, directing, acting, etc etc. That sounds extremely exhausting tbh especially for such a high pressure situation.

If the movies ends up sucking all the blame goes to him lol, who would want that responsibility?
 
D

DeathoftheEndless

Crashing this plane... with no survivors!
Blader said:
So even if Justice League is a huge hit and it's full steam ahead on all DCEU projects, this leaves 2018 pretty empty doesn't it? Aquaman is on track for an October release, maybe Gotham City Sirens, too, depending on when that starts up.
Click to expand...

Aquaman is their only project near production status, so if that films on time, it'll be the only DCEU release in 2018.
 
R

Ridley327

Member
Evil's Bane said:
Evans would need more time than the Hollywood Superhero production cycle would ever allow nowadays. If WB was willing to wait on a potential masterpiece they should go for it but it doesn't look like that's the case.
Click to expand...
Principal photography on The Raid 2 was, what, about 8 months? I don't think post-production on superhero films is that long anymore. There isn't a studio out there that will wait that long with that kind of budget, barring some Fury Road-esque miracle.
 
JimiNutz

JimiNutz

Banned
Why does he need to look for a new director?

Snyder has a proven track record and is waiting in the wings to save the franchise after Nolan tried to destroy it.
 
L

Litan

Member
NutJobJim said:
Why does he need to look for a new director?

Snyder has a proven track record and is waiting in the wings to save the franchise after Nolan tried to destroy it.
Click to expand...

Usually when I post lol, I didn't actually lol. but this time I actually did lol.
Good one, sir.
 
B

Blader

Member
Schlorgan said:
I guess his vision was taking too long.
Click to expand...

It sounds like he's just more burned out than anything else. The Forbes piece points out that he's spent the last two 2.5 years of his life shooting three movies as Batman (two of which were pretty critically maligned) and writing a fourth, which ate into time and attention that he could have otherwise devoted more of to something like Live By Night, which then bombed critically and commercially anyway. That's a lot of time and energy to devote to projects that, one way or another, are not performing very well.
 
C

Coffinhal

Member
This actor-producer-director triple job under the supervision of a god (the studio) needs to stop.

18 pages of debate about a technical job of assistant to the actor-producer-director says more than the 36 threads about Trump's meltdown.
 
T

Theorry

Member
Blader said:
It sounds like he's just more burned out than anything else. The Forbes piece points out that he's spent the last two 2.5 years of his life shooting three movies as Batman (two of which were pretty critically maligned) and writing a fourth, which ate into time and attention that he could have otherwise devoted more of to something like Live By Night, which then bombed critically and commercially anyway. That's a lot of time and energy to devote to projects that, one way or another, are not performing very well.
Click to expand...

Someone on Reddit said it pretty good imo. That would be pretty stressfull yes.

The Batman is a movie on a much larger scale than The Town. So the same responsibilities he had for that movie is in jeopardy of management.

For his Writing role, Affleck went months on end rewriting the script so I'm sure that was stressing, especially when people keeping asking him about the movie and he is repeatedly saying "we're still writing it".

For his Directing role, Affleck would have to go through all stages of Pre-Production stresses (casting, set schedule, location scouting, costume ect) then Production stresses (meeting shoot schedules, directing from costume ect) then Post-Production stresses (studio pressures, editing ect).

All while preparing to perform for this role, he would have Lead Acting stresses (6 months at least to prepare physically, getting into character ect). All these stresses could be crazy to deal with on set not just for Affleck but for everyone else as well.
For a small production like The Town, it's managable but for The Batman, it is impossible. Affleck would be under a monumental amount of stress from the 3 roles.
Click to expand...
 
G

Glass Rebel

Member
Ridley327 said:
IIRC, Evans isn't terribly interested in doing "big" films and prefers to go out on his own to make what he wants. I know he's been trying to do something more mainstream to help get funding for both Blister and Raid 3, but he's still thinking small-scale for that. The only way I can see him going for a superhero film is if he got full creative control and was given as much time as he needed to film it, which I don't see happening at all.
Click to expand...

I know, it's 2017, we're not getting nice things.
 
N

Napoleonthechimp

Member
I wonder if this is influenced by the failure of Live By Night. Perhaps after that he feels that he can't juggle being a producer, director, and actor while creating a great film.
 
D

Discotheque

Banned
broncobuster said:
wait wait Gavin Belson directed Captain Fantastic? wow, good for him. To think I knew him as the guy Patrick Bateman wanted to strangle in the mensroom.

Peter Berg would be a bad choice. Gavin O'Conner is hit or miss, and I don't feel strongly about his hits, though I like The Accountant more than most.

His bit on Armie Hammer playing a younger Batman, whether it's his speculation or not, it's not the first time I've heard it in the past month.
Click to expand...

I liked captain fantastic but that was mostly due to Viggo

Gavin Belson has potential for a dope career but he would be a really underwhelming choice for director

Matt Reeves, Villeneuve and Miller would make me more hyped for batman solo than I was prior to this news tbh. Would be a big deal if any of them were hired. The rest would really disappoint me

Armie Hammer as a younger Bruce would rock in flashback scenes I think.

Anyways affleck seems very unsure about his abilities as a blockbuster guy. We should have seen this coming

Keep in mind the dude turned down man of steel and star wars force awakens because he didn't think he had it in him.
 
Vic_Viper

Vic_Viper

Member
Ben doesn't want the blame when this movie doesn't live up to people's expectations. Sounds like they are forcing him to take garbage scripts and try to make them work.

Wonder if the box office failure of live by night had anything to do with this.
 
F

FantasticMrFoxdie

Mumber
Expected. That's a huge fucking undertaking of directing and acting while being dressed up as Batman lol


Also, after the memes from BvS i'd want to stay the hell away from the pressure and liability it carries to be in charge of something like this.

(Thanks Betty 😑 this is all your fault)
 
G

GabeTheGrouch76

Member
Welp, there goes the only thing in the DCEU I would had actually looked forward to. I thought BvS was mostly lousy, but liked Batfleck, and I was on board with the idea of him directing his own Batman film. Whatever.

5a4.jpg


Kthulhu said:
Next week we're gonna see an article saying Snyder is directing.
Click to expand...

At this point they can go right ahead. Maybe a silver lining might come out of it in which it tanks so hard they finally burn this whole venture to the ground and start from scratch.
 
P

PhantomX1313

Member
Ben is mature enough to know his limitations, filming and playing main at the same time, while paying and putting up detail from minor to high to make it a masterpiece and in record 18-20 months (even if you throw a billion at anyone).advice of einstein "Only Robots Can do that".
For example.
oDC2pN5.jpg

lGaVcyc.jpg
 
I

Into the Light

Banned
We do not understand the stresses and pressures of trying create something that no matter what you do, fans will not be happy. Its so hard in today's world.
 
P

Pau

Member
I'm assuming people who want Kevin Smith directing didn't read his Batman comics. I'd rather he stayed away. But I also just don't like Kevin Smith in general.
 
Kibbles

Kibbles

Member
Kickz said:
WTF... This damn DCEU shitfest is now officially over with Bafleck quiting..
Click to expand...
Not really, if you read his reasoning it makes sense. He says it has become clear to him that he can't perform at his best while directing (Live by Night reviews must've took a toll on him) and he needs to commit to playing this beloved character that is Batman. It still sounds like he wants to partner with a director and help in choosing them.
 
S

Slayven

Member
Pau said:
I'm assuming people who want Kevin Smith directing didn't read his Batman comics. I'd rather he stayed away. But I also just don't like Kevin Smith in general.
Click to expand...
He took 3 years to write one of the worse spiderman stories ever. I like the dude but he is hit or miss
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Variety: When Superman and Batman Copyrights Expire in a Decade, Will It Be Kryptonite for DC?
20
2K
Skyfox replied
Patty Jenkins‘ ‘Wonder Woman 3’ Not Moving Forward as DC Movies Hit Turning Point (Affleck out of Aquaman too)
2 3
108
7K
MMaRsu replied
The Flash Director Andy Muschietti Officially Signs On To Helm 'Batman: The Brave and the Bold'
2
71
4K
FunkMiller replied
2025 Movies - North American Release Schedule
4
2K
dispensergoinup replied
Rise of the Raven| TV show about John Hunyadi's battles against the Ottomans
8
660
Oberstein replied
Top Bottom