Ben Affleck no longer directing Batman movie!
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Marvel/DC
Jobert_Downey_Runior — 9 years ago(January 30, 2017 11:45 PM)
Looks like he is abandoning ship to the best of his abilitieshe's contracted to star as an actor, but clearly he wants to limit his involvementand he doesn't want to be in the director's chair and be responsible for what will likely be another troubled production that ends up with a middling final film.
The DC Film universe is absolutely imploding. Wonder Woman and Justice League will likely have disappointing results. Aquaman will end up being their ONLY film in 2018. Everything after that will basically be postponed until further notice. -
SacrosanctPariah — 9 years ago(February 01, 2017 08:08 AM)
You think that having a director and producers signed on, having a finished script, signing actors, rehearsals for stunt teams, and having a ton of press means that it doesn't exist as a serious project?
At this point, a lot of work has been put into it and a lot of money has already been spent on it. Most of the issues would likely happen during development or pre-production.
Just because a movie isn't currently shooting doesn't mean it's not a "serious project". Movie making is more complex than that, especially on this scale. -
whigmus3 — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 09:15 AM)
Yeah, I can't really see how it's a good sign that he's stepping down from Director.
And it makes sense that he's acting in it because of contracts, etc.
I wonder if he's still producing it because of contracts as well?
End Transmission: Code 350 -
dissolute_dog — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 11:12 AM)
Despite what the original poster said, it was most likely because his "Live By Night" (also under Warner Bros) bombed financially and was heavily bashed by critics, which has caused Affleck and probably also Warner Bros to doubt his own abilities as a director even though he directed a string of hits until now. Personally, as someone who has watched that movie, I feel like it was something he was passionate about and into which he poured everything he had. He couldn't have taken the financial and critical beating very well,
especially
right after the bashing that "BvS" also got (where he played a superhero that he probably admired ever since he was little).
As far as rich movie stars go (who get to be Batman) lol, that's a pretty tough year for a guy, and I don't think it's a coincidence that he stepped down right after "Live By Night".
Which is a shame. "Live By Night" is really underrated. It's not as solid as Affleck's other self-directed movies, but it was good. And unlike many other "gritty tough-guy" crime movies, it wasn't afraid to have some really tender/touching elements in it too (much like his other crime movie "The Town").
His ability to direct drama elements would have been AWESOME for Batman I think, but he's a pretty bad action director especially when it comes to car chases. They are choppy and a bit incoherent. Even he has admitted to not being a good action director. The car chase scenes in "The Town" and "Live By Night" were easily the ugliest-looking parts of those movies, lol. So I would have expected any action and especially Batmobile scenes in his solo movie to be the same way; in that respect, it's probably good that he stepped down as director. -
mockingjay-60206 — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 02:46 PM)
I had forgotten Ben Affleck directed
Live by Night
. I was wanting to see it but the bad reviews and poor performance at the BO led me to reconsider. I think you're right though, I don't think Ben Affleck, who is a good director, has what it takes in that type of genre. I favor JJ Abrams taking up the director chair.
"Facts are necessary, without them you must remain silent." -
dissolute_dog — 9 years ago(February 01, 2017 04:08 PM)
If you like crime/mafia/gangster movies and/or liked
The Town
I'd definitely recommend
Live By Night
.
It's not as good as
The Town
, and the protagonist is not as likable of a guy although he's not meant to be, haha but in terms of scale, it's actually probably Ben Affleck's most ambitious movie so far as a director. He was clearly trying to make a "mother of all mafia movies" with that project, and if nothing else, it's almost always at least interesting to see such ambitious efforts! But then again, I feel the same way about the interesting ambition of
Batman v Superman
, while obviously a lot of other people felt it was a waste of 2.5 to 3 hours of their time, so.