Say what you will about Kevin Smith’s recent films or his persona, but there’s no denying that the filmmaker made the right call when he announced his intention to donate all future Weinstein and Miramax film residuals to charity. And now he’s inspired longtime friend Ben Affleck to do the same, as the Justice League star has revealed that he will donate his own residuals from Weinstein films to Film Independent and RAINN (the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network).
It looks like Ben Affleck’s Bat-days may be numbered — and more than you might think. Not only is the actor unlikely to appear in The Batman, but a new report reveals that he’s on the verge of exiting the DCEU entirely. The news comes as not much of a shock following Affleck’s departure from the helm of the upcoming solo movie, for which he was replaced by War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves.
Writing about the latest developments in movie-centric news isn’t a bad job, by any means — I could be mining ore and plucking chickens like my Eastern European forefathers — but some days still make you wanna sharpen up your morning coffee with something a little stronger. The recent trend of movie studios airing brief mini-trailers to tease the release of upcoming slightly-longer trailers numbers among my least favorite developments in online buzz-cultivating, and leave it to Zack Snyder and the DC cinematic universe to take that to the next level. Running a trailer for the trailer is some weak-ass bull, the sort of thing those nerds at Marvel would do — this is DC, baby, where they run five trailers for the trailer.
A new Batman vehicle demands, in a more literal sense, a new Batman vehicle. As Ben Affleck prepares to don the cape and cowl once more to reprise the role of Bruce Wayne in Zack Snyder’s upcoming Justice League movie, modifications have also been made to his singular whip, the teched-out Batmobile. Snyder applied his bigger-is-better filmmaking ethic to the Batmobile in last year‘s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, diverging from Christopher Nolan’s utilitarian, industrial look towards something a little more tanklike. And today, Snyder’s taken to his favored social media channel of Vero to offer fans an advance look at what the latest edition of the Batmobile has to offer.
A story, told in headlines: Here’s us on December 18, reporting on Ben Affleck’s voicing of slight misgivings about his tentative gig as the director of the new Batman solo film:
Ben Affleck is frustrated. And who could blame him? Anyone who dons Batman’s iconic cape and mask is immediately the center of superhero fans’ attention, both positive and negative. But Affleck doesn’t just want to live in a Batman bubble and only be asked about Batman. (Valid, but what did you expect dude?)
There seems to be a bit of conflicting information regarding Ben Affleck’s standalone Batman movie: Last week, Zack Snyder set his next directing project as WB pushed back the release of Justice League 2, reportedly to make room for the Batman movie. Earlier this week, Affleck said he’s taking his time with the project and making sure the script, which he’s co-writing with Geoff Johns, is right before heading into production. But now, Affleck has confirmed that his Batman film will shoot next spring, while WB president Greg Silverman says it’s on track for a 2018 release.
With all the heroes joining Batman and Wonder Woman (and Superman) in Justice League, plus almost all of them getting their own solo movies, it’s almost impossible to find room for them all. Warner Bros. recently did a bit of reshuffling with their slate of films, and pushed back the release of Justice League: Part 2, which until now had had a mid-2019 spot, to make room for Ben Affleck’s Batman movie. And now that Snyder has some free time on his hands, he’s turning his attention to Afghanistan war thriller The Last Photograph.
Hard to believe, but production on Justice League, which doesn’t hit theaters until next fall, is already nearing an end — at least according to Zack Snyder, who shared a new photo revealing Batman’s latest costume upgrade. What, you didn’t really think Batman would make another on-screen appearance without getting a fancy new super-suit, did you?
Following Batman v Superman’s underwhelming box office, DC’s Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns was promoted to the position of creative head for WB’s DC Film franchise, overseeing the studio’s upcoming slate of comic-book movies. In addition to co-writing the new solo Batman film with Ben Affleck, Johns (who recently confirmed Joe Manganiello’s casting as DC villain Deathstroke) is heavily involved with Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and in a new interview, the exec reveals how they’re making some adjustments to address complaints about Snyder’s Dawn of Justice.
There were a lot of rumors about perennial DC Comics bad guys Deathstroke the Terminator showing up in Suicide Squad. He’s gonna be in the movie! (He wasn’t.) He’s gonna be a hired assassin competing with the Suicide Squad! (He didn’t.) He’s the breakout character in the movie! (He wasn’t.) Scott Eastwood’s gonna play him! (He didn’t.) So, so many stories about this character who wound up not being in the movie at all, in any way.
If you liked the scene in Batman v Superman where Bruce Wayne watched YouTube videos about the future members of the Justice League, you'll love Suicide Squad. Instead of just one scene of plot-stopping fan service, Suicide Squad delivers an entire first act of soul-deadening exposition. The movie spends nearly 30 story-free minutes with a Machiavellian bureaucrat while she sits in a restaurant discussing a top secret personnel file. Here is Deadshot, the world’s greatest assassin; this is Harley Quinn, the Joker’s psychotic girlfriend. Oh, and have you heard about Captain Boomerang? And on and on and on.
We know Ben Affleck has written the script for his solo Batman movie, but the question remains, what will it be about? Will we get a story of the Dark Knight true to the comics, or something entirely new? It now looks like we’ll get a mix of both.
When the cast of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice took the stage at Comic-Con last summer, reports immediately surfaced that Ben Affleck was in talks to direct a new Batman solo film. And almost immediately following those reports, DC’s Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns revealed that he was indeed developing a new Batman film with Affleck. And while Warner Bros. hasn’t made anything official, and Affleck hasn’t formally signed on, the actor and new Batman has confirmed that he is working on “something” with Johns — gee, what could that be?
Christian Bale, who played the latest caped crusader in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, has finally admitted that there is some envy of Ben Affleck, who will don the cowl for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.