Posted in: Movies | Tagged: batfleck, Batman, ben affleck, dc, justice league
Rumor: Batfleck In Jeopardy As Ben Affleck's "The Batman" Reportedly Delayed
It's been a wild ride for fans of Ben Affleck's performance as Batman over the past month. We started on a high note, with reports that Justice League 2 had been pushed back in favor of a Summer 2018 release for Affleck's standalone Bat-film, The Batman. However, Affleck almost immediately began hedging, saying that he would take his time to get the film right rather than push for a specific release window. Just a few days later, Affleck said that he was still writing the script, and that "I'm not going to write and direct anything that I don't think is good enough to be made." Then, in January, Affleck said that the movie wasn't even a definite thing, asserting that not only would he be taking his time to get things right, but "If it doesn't come together in a way I think is really great I'm not going to do it."
Today, Batman-themed Batman film site Batman-on-Film reports that "sources" tell them the production has been delayed, with filming not set to begin until at least mid-Summer, as opposed to the early 2017 originally planned. The late start could jeopardize the film's planned release date, or even its very existence, according to further Batman-on-Film speculation. The website lists three possibilities for the reason for the delay: that Affleck is taking his time, as he's repeatedly said, that the studio is looking for a new director because Affleck no longer wants to do it, or that Affleck thinks Justice League is going to suck and wants to escape the DC Cinematic Universe before it ruins all the cred he's earned as a filmmaker lately.
The rumor should, of course, be taken with a grain of salt, unless you have high blood pressure, in which case don't take any salt with it, but simply recognize that it might not be true. However, it does fit in with Affleck's increasingly dismal comments about the film over the past month, so we're not ruling it out either.