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Damn. This is not good news. That said, I'm glad he has the maturity as an artist to know when he can't make it the best he can. I still hope that he directs one in the future.
I'm not sure if I missed it, but are they still using his script? If not, then I imagine this bad news is just the tip of the iceberg.
Let s wait and see. Really looking forward to his Batman film regardless.
I'm getting tired of this. I'm getting tired of comments stating that Warner Bros' record with their comic book movies are bad. If that was truly the case, both of their 2016 output, along with "Man of Steel" would have been flops. There would have been no "Wonder Woman" or "Justice League" movies in production.
It's fine that some fans didn't like their films. But I'm getting sick and tired of these bashers acting as if EVERYONE shares their feelings or projecting their feelings upon the success or failures of these movies. I find it damn arrogant and a bit infantile.
Are the films profitable? Sure but even then it's only been suicide squad, the biggest critical disaster that ironically saw the biggest ROI.
WB track record with the DCEU IS bad. These aren't alternative facts here. Obviously like every film ever made no matter how bad a film is regarded or recieved by the majority it will still have group of supporters.
The Transformers movies are terrible yet they gross numbers around the $Billion mark. Sony and MGM make movies that routinely flop but strangely still greenlight movies and dump huge budgets into the projects.
As for WW and JL not going into production because of BvS, not true. Like I said many times at length during and after BvS' release, WB had a lot to answer for to their investors, there's no way production on WW and especially JL would have stopped, irrespective of how the fish turned out. Instead, what happened was WB underwent executive management reshuffling and are still obviously repriorotising which films get made? Which get made first and constant course correcting.
Fact is, it's a mess over there at WB and no one seems to have a clear strategy or vision as to how to proceed. Just the other week they greenlight a black Adam solo movie. A few days ago David Ayer posted some apology that lamented over the outcome of suicide squad (who does that?), since suocide squad, the gotham Sirens movie has come out of nowhere and is being fast tracked to start shooting next year. Cyborg no longer has a solo movie, the Flash has lost its 3rd director and was announced just the other day that they're restarting the script from scratch. WB's scheduled slate of films as originally planned might as well be officially scrapped and take an adhoc approach to releasing these movies because outside of WW and JL and possibly Aquaman everything is up in the air in terms of a clear cut plan. Now, after months of Affleck even up until earlier this month stating that people need to relax, he's working on the script and he's directing and nlah nlah blah, tjis news drops that he's dropped out as director.
To me, him dropping out and reading both his and WB's statements about it screams both trying to save themselves from embarassment, particularly after how badly recieved Live by night's been. Where I for one once thought thos movie could be great, my hope has fizzled out completely.
In an earlier interview, Affleck said about directing this, “If it doesn’t come together in a way I think is really great I’m not going to do it.”
That says it all.
This whole WB/DCEU is one big debacle that I never would have imagined. If Affleck wasn't bound contractually I'm certain he would have walked away completely from all of this. Damn.
Blah, blah, blah, yawn, yawn, yawn. You're sick of me, I you. Great company we make.
If you look at the release of these films by WB and see a clear cut and smart plan, or anything that should ever be repeated by another studio, you're quite frankly Fruit Loops. None of their films have been a hit with audiences, or even rated as acceptable. That's why 2/3 of their films have ratings in the 20s (out of 100%), and MoS is their most critically successful, yet can't even cross above the 50% mark. That's aggregated, verified data telling you that a large mass of industry professionals (people who know what they're talking about) don't like this shit. That kind of response negatively effects the DC brand and lowers the effectiveness with which WB can form connections and associates in the industry to work for them to get things better, as they've been tainted. On top of it, the bad moves with these films have lost many "innocent" people their jobs at WB because the people above them made stupid decisions and don't know how to produce consistently strong films. But because the elite at the top have more stake in the company they can't be fired, and so the underlings who had no hands in the pie are axed because of it. Zack Snyder and Chris Terrio can't make a story to save their lives, but Average Joe and Nameless Nancy who work as assistants or are employed in marketing and IT, along with thousands of other people with no say in any of the ridiculousness that has happened in these films are the ones that lose their jobs, while the idiots like the above get promoted to more work. This isn't successful moviemaking, because successful moviemaking doesn't result in mass unemployment and the firing of thousands of employees following the critical and financial sags of these films. That's the truth, get over it.
http://www.pajiba.com/think_pieces/an-open-letter-to-warner-bros-ceo-kevin-tsujihara-about-layoffs-zack-snyder-and-donuts.php
People that like these movies just need to move on and quit worrying about how things currently are, as it could get better, though it's growing be a bigger "if" by the day. Whining about how you feel misrepresented and hurt by the popular opinion is a waste of time, as I don't give a damn what you or anyone else thinks about these films at the end of the day. It doesn't help you to just post in here all the time, saying you're sick and tired of this or that, over and over. The negative response to SP is something I don't agree with, for example, and I can enjoy the movie without worrying about what others think about it. I suck it up and get on with it, and don't spend all my time in every thread SP dissenters hijack (which are a lot of them these days) to complain that they don't speak for me and that my feelings are hurt.
@doubleoego, I'm glad you're here to post things as they are, because I would lose a lot of breath (and patience) doing it all in my lonesome. Thank you for not ever having blinders on.
Someone like Gareth Evans, for example. It could be risky, but I think at this point Warner Bros. need to be a bit bold and go for someone who is going to make a movie with some serious balls.
No it wouldn't. What it will at least do is reignite/keep aflame the hype for Batman; but the DCEU as a whole? Nope.
Only when and if WB/DCEU can make a genuine critical hit can there be room for opinions of the universe's reputation to change to something more favourable but until then, the DCEU will remain adversely stigmatised.
WB problem is, there's no real plan, direction and not thinking things through accordingly that best serves the interests of everyone involved. Affleck no longer directing actually makes sense and is a pragmatic decision and approach in moving forward but in this instance, the damage comes from all the hype and hoopla of WB/Affleck harping on about this, that and the third. Making huge last minute changes or course correcting all the time conveys imprecision and indecisiveness; and that's just not a good look.
Affleck never should have signed up to write the script, star as the lead, executive produce and direct the film...it's too much. That has always been a crazy undertaking for any person to do for this type of movie but WB/Affleck announced that's what they were going to do even up until about 2 weeks ago Affleck was talking about it to/with the media...and now they're only just seeing how impractical it is.
WB need to get their house in order. Think things through and plan properly before making big announcements. The flash was supposed to start filming this month and now look, it's back to square one. At this point, trying to compete with Marvel is a joke. WB/DCEU have failed to show up for the race or the weigh in or which ever apt competing analogy one wants to use. They should just forget Marvel and concentrate on making good films because guess what, there's plenty of money out there to be made and the DCEU have at the very least proved that. The one thing they've done is, they've left a lot of money on the table, so imagine if these movies were better, true to the essence of the source material...they wouldn't have all the problems they're having now.
See, all these issues are a result of cutting corners, trying to take short cuts and trying to piggy back off the competition without really putting the work in. Well, here we are. WW is the one movie they have that so much is riding on, unfairly I might add and from the data and statistics chart I provided, JL which is supposed to be an Avengers level event movie is the least anticipated comic book movie of the year.
Like I said, WB should forget about Marvel and all the fanboy crap that comes with brand vs brand. They need to focus on making quality products, which requires real thought, passion and a realistic approach to making these films. First thing they need to do is, get someone, one person that is actually capable to oversee everything like Kevin Feige. This is an approach that's not a Marvel exclusive executive hierarchy but a sensible business and creative approach. Geoff Johns was supposedly meant to be that guy but the guy has so far proven ineffective and clearly doesn't come close to having Feige's authority. Anyone can overrule him it seems and there's no clear plan or strategy for this universe, which makes my point about just focusing on making great films all the more poignant if it's more of an adhoc approach to whatever movie WB release.
That being said, The Batman can still turn out great, Affleck is still doing everything EXCEPT directing it but we'll see. Who they bring in board as director will be interesting. Let's just hope it's not Snyder.
We haven't seen the direction Geoff Johns is taking with these movies, so I think it's a bit unfair to say that he's ineffective. You also forget that for a long time Kevin Fiege had to answer to Ike Pearlmutter, and it wasn't until recently that he had the promotion and really the authority that you say he has. The material is all there, and I guess it all comes down to personal preference. So far I've enjoyed the three DCEU movies, but WB should just keep their hands off these movies and let them be made properly. If BvS and SS taught us anything, is that the studio has a huge reputation of interfering in the pre and post production phases. The BvS Ultimate Edition was a good movie, cut down to the garbage that was the theatrical cut, even though it was an overly ambitious project to begin with. SS could've been great, had they given Ayer more than 6 weeks to write the script, if they didn't turn a majority of the characters into hipsters that looked as if they just got off the set of a Fast and Furious movie, and didn't over romanticize the relationship (if we can even call it one) between The Joker and Harley Quinn. These movies can be good, and like I say I've enjoyed them, but they're all flawed up the ass it's become increasingly frustrating lately.
I think since his appointment there's been zero progress in how things are coming along and nothing particularly positive to affirm that things are on the right track for the DCEU. In all the time afforded to him, WW has been plagued with things being bad to the point that Patty Jenkins unwisely posted an angry written response to diffuse the "rumours". This is the same woman that again posted a response calling out movie critics and people for not liking Suicide Squad and insisted it was a great movie. Cyborg got scrapped and then shoehorned into the flash movie, the flash movie then lost its director and has now had to start from scratch, the Justice League sequel no longer has a defined schedule for filming and release date, movie projects are being plucked out of thin air and being greenlit and fast tracked i.e. Gotham Sirens, a Black Adam solo movie, Goyer taking stewardship of the green lantern corps movie; and now Affleck dropping out as director amongst a whole lot more other issues going on....that's just too much smoke to dismiss there being any fire. Where's the executive authority to manage these issues properly? Answer, it's not there. As the supposed head honcho of the DCEU, the indecisiveness and other inactions is more than enough proof that Johns so far is already ineffective. There's just no clear leader overseeing the DCEU.
I haven't forgotten but the difference is even when Feige had to deal with Pearlmutter the success of the MCU had nothing to do with latter. Feige made the most of the bullshit and the restraints slapped on him to not only get the MCU where it is but fought Pearlmutter every step of the way until Pearlmutter was removed from the equation. Even at the level Feige was at under Pearlmutter, Johns doesn't even have that.
Yes, the material is there but WB are going to be very much hands on because (a) The DCEU was built on a foundation where it was originally the Snyder-verse and Snyder was WB's last resort of last resorts when it came to finding a director to oversee the project. It's like they were already doomed from the start after they were forced to settle on their 7th choice of director.
(b) Because of the stakeholders' investments pumped into the DCEU and the overwhelming amount of money they lost out on and got left on the table, WB aren't making smaller or mid-sized films for the foreseeable future because they can't afford to. Their mission statement and business plan is to focus on making these huge tent-pole blockbuster movies exclusively which is why the DCEU are churning out movies regardless and why we're getting all these unscheduled movies being fast tracked instead of sticking to their original plan as well as continuous executive reshuffling.
The problem goes beyond that. The problem is when WB are making huge announcements and bragging that WB/DCEU are a "director-led" company AND THEN interfere; and having no idea what the hell they're doing. I mean, they used a company that puts movie trailers together to edit the SS movie. Then on top of that, we get "extended" editions of BvS and SS during their respective theatrical runs to appease audiences for the theatrical versions not being good enough. That says a lot about a company's attitude towards their product. There's no real clear leader overseeing the DCEU.
See and that's a fundamental problem with basic film making. We can talk about the ifs and buts of so and so having done this and that but ultimately these were never achieved; and it goes straight down to the fundamental process of film-making; the script. Some screen writers can knock out an excellent script in 6 weeks or less but if more time is needed then they shouldn't rush ahead and film from a script that needs more work, never mind all the other problems the movie faces during production. A bad movie is a bad movie and at this stage and on this level, WB/DCEU should be and need to be doing better.
They most certainly can be good. They can be great. We know the movies are incredibly profitable but it just feels like the DCEU have weathered the storm of being stigmatised as critical disasters that make money and as long as they make money because they genuinely need to, as in they're in a desperate position in needing to make money, they'll just do whatever instead of crafting out a proper plan to make good movies that will see a pleasing ROI.
Hilariously from Mark Hughes of all people...Jeez.
http://www.screengeek.net/2017/01/31...e-batman-role/
http://www.screengeek.net/2017/01/31/rumor-ben-affleck-could-leave-batman-role/
It seems "Aquaman" now has its Black Manta:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/aquaman-finds-black-manta-villain-get-down-actor-970629
And Nicole Kidman may be joining "Aquaman" as well:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/nicole-kidman-talks-join-aquaman-970652
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/ben-affleck-not-directing-batman-movie-970390
Uh oh...
Starring, producing and directing is one hell of a task to undergo. Not to mention that the character he's playing is freaking BATMAN. In other words, whatever free time Ben had would be spent at the gym; realistically there aren't enough hours in the day for him to be the director on top of everything else.
I remember a 'making of' special on 2006' Rocky Balboa, in which Stallone carefully planned the shooting schedule around everything: he practically lived at the gym, keeping in peak condition, and filmed the end fight FIRST (and with a friend stepping in as director).
Only then could he film the rest of the movie.
Lots of actors pull off starring and directing in their movie, but they weren't playing Batman! I think we'll be OK.
First off, the "rumor" of Ben leaving the role is absolute bullshit; that will never happen, especially at this stage. He loves the character and has made a commitment. Just because the script isn't working doesn't mean he's given it all up; he's wanted to play Bruce for his entire career. I can believe that this Batman hasn't been the one he was dying to play, considering the reception of BvS that tainted the character, but it's obvious he is dedicated to making this Batman the best he can be, and he's making the changes to transition Bruce from being a killer to a true hero behind the scenes (hopefully JL shows the fruits of his labors). I am sure he was pissed at Snyder all the time on set for the stupid things he was doing, but couldn't really do anything. The rumors of Ben rewriting parts of BvS between takes on the set don't seem to bizarre to believe at this stage.
Secondly, all the other "rumors" surrounding the Batman film feel like total click-bait. Even if there's truth to some of the negativity surrounding it, all these random Twitter people milking it for all it's worth are annoying. It's pseudo-journalism at its finest.
The way I see it is this: Ben saw how much energy and focus he would need to wear as many hats as he was going to need to on the Batman film, and decided that to give his best performance he needed to do less on the production side, spending more time in front of the camera than behind. Secondly, his recent directorial feature Live By Night has been a critical and financial disappointment, and I'm sure he's now having a bit of a creative crises behind the scenes, doubting if he can put all of himself into another big production when the last one didn't work out under his leadership. He and WB have probably come to the awkward agreement that his directing juices need to rest, and he and studio heads will now go on a search for a director who fits the Batman project best, and who can work with Ben to bring out a great film and maybe even help with the script (if Geoff Johns hasn't made it better, who will though?). I imagine that this director and Ben will basically make a co-directing team, two minds meeting to create one idea. Because he's star and producer, Ben will be able, in between takes, to partner with the director as a dual creative force to give his advice and mold the vision of the film the way they both see fit, giving his second opinion on things. He will also likely be hands-on in a minor capacity with some of the creative decisions made in the many filmmaking departments, as he now seems to be on Justice League, considering that he is the biggest "face" of WB and the DCEU right now; their Downey.
If WB and Ben get Snyder to direct Batman (which he so obviously wants to do) after all the messes he's caused, I'll laugh my freaking ass off, because I just won't care anymore. That is such a WB move, you all know it.
I am realistic despite liking BvS, problem I have is unfortunately it's not the case of only a couple a negatives coming out of WB. Maybe I am victim to the over saturation of information available on productions these days, though it appears WB are constantly putting out fires on there DCU films. If Affleck leaves my heart will sink as I do care, he is arguably the best thing going in the DCU.
I would be happy to have a few self contained DC movies that are decent, I think the script issues on more than one film in production is because of all the world building attempts.
Marvel were smart to keep world building to a minimum, and usually put them in post credit scenes.
Remember 'Unite the Seven'
I remember the unite the seven poster, I was thinking the same with regards to Armie playing Hal Jordan certainly after the teases on twitter.
There is that much click bate and fake stories it's easy to get dragged in
I genuinely hope that.
Me too hope it's teething problems and we get several good movies over the next few years, if this was Marvel I would not be bothered they made a few missteps early on. I expect maybe too much from DC in comparison to Marvel, I do think it will be a disaster if Affleck vacated the role.