Well this is some pretty major and interesting news: it’s being reported that Ben Affleck, soon to suit up for the first time as Batman, will co-write and direct a solo movie featuring the Caped Crusader.
Deadline reports the news that Affleck will work on the first post-Christopher Nolan solo Batman movie with DC’s Geoff Johns. After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Affleck plans to finally get around to directing his long-gestating adaptation of Dennis Lahan’se novel Live By Night (the author who wrote the book upon which Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone was based). But after that his attention turns to this new standalone Batflick and supposedly he and Johns are confident that they will have a script before the end of this summer – ambitious! As you would hope, the new movie is said to follow-up with Batman as he emerges from the events of Dawn of Justice.
Comic fans will know Johns’ name but if you’re not in the loop then don’t be worried that he’s some random writer who doesn’t know anything about the character: Johns is the chief creative officer over at DC Comics and has written some of the most loved comic series including Green Lantern, Justice League, Superman and, of course, Batman. He’s also worked on TV’s Smallville, The Flash and Arrow, so I think if anyone was going to co-write it, he seems like a fine choice.
As for Affleck not just being the titular hero himself but also the man behind the camera, it’s certainly an interesting choice and Affleck has proven in the past with Gone Baby Gone, The Town and the Oscar-winning Argo that he’s a very talented director. However, this would be a huge jump up in scale and budget, not to mention feature huge action sequences that he hasn’t directed before. I can only guess that him working on Dawn of Justice has given him the confidence to combine that world with his directorial style.
Affleck plans to shoot Live By Night this November and presumably this solo Batman movie would shoot in early 2016. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits cinemas on March 26th, 2016.
Source: Deadline