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I’ve been reading a lot of stuff lately that has been of questionable substance, and I’m calling bullshit on this big Variety scoop today that implies Warner Bros will get Ben Affleck as director of its Justice League film. This is a story I checked out days ago, and didn’t run when Affleck’s reps stated that it was not going to happen with him. Now, it makes sense that Warner Bros would offer Affleck the project. Chris Nolan is top man over there, but after three Batfilms and after producing the Superman reboot Man of Steel, he’s gotten spandex-clad protagonists out of his system. After Nolan, the studio then offers everything else to Harry Potter director David Yates (who is now keen on Tarzan) and Affleck, who has become a major director with Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and the upcoming Argo. Just because the studio wants Affleck doesn’t mean he will do the movie, and several sources tell me he might take a meeting, but that’s it.
After costing himself momentum as an actor with some questionable choices like Gigli, Affleck admirably scripted a second act for himself with his writing and directing skills, and did it by taking on unexpected, thoughtful films. His reps clearly denied he would take this, and why would he want to direct a Justice League movie, unless he himself had figured out a way to make one that would compare favorably with Joss Whedon’s billion dollar Marvel smash The Avengers? I don’t see it. As my old agent/manager pal Michael Black used to say sometimes when I came at him breathlessly with an important but dubious package involving one of his clients, “Don’t dress for that premiere, darling.”
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“Don’t dress for THAT premiere, darling.” = showbiz line of the month!
ditto. Hell no and don’t walk blindly into a daredevil role of disaster.
I read that quote in Tom Hardy’s Inception voice.
This pet project of Jeff R.’s has been slop as far back as when he wasn’t running the studio and the movie was called Justice League Mortal. The studio knew it was garbage and killed it the second the Australian government wouldn’t give George Miller the 40% tax credit. The production knew the script was hogwash and that potential cash write-off was the only thing keeping the project moving.
Jeff’s been pissed ever since and getting the project underway far outweighs any interest in telling a story or delivering the right product. Affleck has to have already sensed that the studio is just looking for a shooter, or they would have given him the same offer they did with Nolan and Batman to start from scratch.
All Jeff wants to do is prove he can show up Kevin Feige and Joss Whedon’s Avengers sequel, which is why this monstrousity is going to get pushed through with a Matt Reeves or Greg Berlanti attached as director. 2015, here they come… common sense and development be damned!
“All Jeff wants to do is prove he can show up Kevin Feige and Joss Whedon’s Avengers sequel, which is why this monstrousity is going to get pushed through with a Matt Reeves or Greg Berlanti attached as director. 2015, here they come… common sense and development be damned!”
You’d think common sense would prevail, given that he’s not going to show anybody up if that movie is so bad it craters at the box office and kills off half-a-dozen potential film franchises in the process, but I guess there’re some people out there who think they crap gold.
All for it….Gone Baby Gone & the Town were excellent. Would be interesting see him do the Superhero genre.
The Town was shit. Implausible every step of the way.
Not to mention Argo! Totally implausible, Affleck is so bad.
You are aware that Argo is based on actual events, or did I just miss the sarcasm?
The Town was great. Most heist movies are implausible. That’s why there movies and not documentaries.
All THE TOWN showed us was that anyone can direct, even third rate actors, as long as you employ very talented people to work alongside them.
Affleck needs to call up Kevin & get the job done right.
Kevin Smith writes mediocre comedies. Sometimes he writes mediocre comic books. He hasn’t been involved with a decent film in years.
He seems like a nice guy on a personal level and I understand why fanboys like him, but he doesn’t have the skills to help develop a DC film franchise. Also I don’t want to see Superman and Batman having an argument over which is faster, the Millennium Falcon or an X-Wing Fighter.
It Smith were to shift gears into writing screenplays he needs to consider writing a decent book or two first.
The poor guy is probably having Daredevil flashbacks.
The inner-fanboy in my certainly wants to see Time-Warner get Marvel-Disney smart w/their DC properties, but we’s have to have to wait ‘tull *AT LEAst* 2017 to get Superman, Bat-reboot, Wonder Woman, and a Green Lantern reboot/sequel together to lead into an overall acceptable quality feature sans too many character origins for one movie
I once saw Affleck’s name thrown around to direct the post-nolan Batman. Maybe he should film that as his genre trainingwheels before taking on such an ambitious business-linchpin blockbuster who’s success would rest solely on it breaking BO numbers…
I believe the difference between Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. is this:
Marvel makes comic book films.
Warners dabbles in making comic book films.
You need more than dabbling to make a great JUSTICE LEAGUE movie.
Uh, yeah because the Batman movies were just “dabbling,” while Thor and Iron Man 2 were REAL comic book movies.
You’re one of those “if it ain’t silly/comedy/goofy then it’s not a ‘comic book’ movie,” people.
Have you read a comic book in the last 35 years? They haven’t been campy, silly. or comedic since the 70′s.
DC’s problem is that they don’t take their properties as seriously as they should. Green Lantern proved that.
Um, I think you’re actually in total agreement with the guy you just trashed. All he said was that while Warners SOMETIMES makes movies based on comics (as part of a larger slate of product), Marvel is a company set up SPECIFICALLY to make movies based on comics. He mentioned nothing about tone, content, or quality; he merely noted that Marvel has an overall master plan to produce an integrated SERIES, whereas DC doesn’t- and a film like JUSTICE LEAGUE, consisting of characters from different franchises, NEEDS that level of coordination to work.
Thank you, cst. That is exactly what I meant.
JaySmack, that is not what I said at all. Read cst comment, he got it right.
You say DC doesn’t take it’s properties seriously enough and cite GREEN LANTERN as an example. That is both an absurd and ignorant statement. I’ve worked extensively with DC (and Marvel) and the problem is not them. Time Warner owns DC. Warner studios make the ultimate decision on what DC property they’ll make and how they want to make it.
Nolan’s TDK trilogy was well made but it was a departure from Batman as depicted in DC’s monthly publications. Man of Steel from the trailer also looks to be a departure from what DC readers are used to seeing. Green Lantern was a mess that felt like development barely moved on after Jack Black’s involvement.
Marvel on the other hand is much more faithful in it’s adaptations. The recent Marvel Studio films draw from classic comics as well as Marvel’s more recent “Ultimate Universe” titles.
Marvel has more confidence in their properties where WB sees things that must be ‘fixed’ to work on screen.
Agreed. Nolan’s TDK trilogy was well made but it was a departure from Batman as depicted in DC’s monthly publications. Man of Steel from the trailer also looks to be a departure from what DC readers are used to seeing. Green Lantern was a mess that felt like development barely moved on after Jack Black’s involvement.
Marvel on the other hand is much more faithful in it’s adaptations. The recent Marvel Studio films draw from classic comics as well as Marvel’s more recent “Ultimate Universe” titles.
Marvel has more confidence in their properties where WB sees things that must be ‘fixed’ to work on screen.
Yates on JL is like Ang Lee on HULK. Studios will never learn. Marvel is schooling people on how to do these.
Terrible analogy. Yates was part of a phenomenally successful franchise for half a decade, whilst Lee came from a more character-driven background before ‘Hulk’. If you are talking in terms of creativity or commerce, that comparison stinks.
Reading comprehension is important. Yates’s name was dropped in the story but at no time was it implied he’s being offered JLA.
However it Yates were offered JLA I think he’d do a fine job.
What a terrible idea.
The Avengers worked because it was preceded by two successful Iron Man movies, one successful Thor movie, and one successful Captain America movie, all three of which built organically up to Avengers. Iron Man was the anchor, and its commercial and critical success made all the rest extra-viable.
Nothing like that exists for the DC product line. Christian Bale will never agree to be in a Justice League movie. We don’t know if the new Superman movie is good, or if audiences will like Henry Cavill. Green Lantern was a flop. There is no Wonder Woman movie. The aborted TV project was garbage. And DC recently turned their classic storylines upside-down with their “New 52″ reboot.
Instead of trying to mimic The Avengers like a child who’s jealous of a neighbor’s toy, the studio should make sure that audiences even want a Justice League movie. Not the loud fanboys, who can’t carry a film, but normal, mainstream audiences. You know, the ones who have no idea who Green Arrow, Black Canary, or Martian Manhunter are?
All four of which, I meant to say.
And I thought Hawkeye was obscure. Martian Manhunter?
^^^Best post here. Spot on analysis. Thanks, Jack Brooks.
Jack you’re right and you make some very valid points. DC does have to take the time to determine if there’s truly a market that awaits “Justice League”. Nothing wrong in taking some tips from Marvel so long as you don’t try to one up them by doing what they’ve already done much more successfully. What i mean by that is absorb what Marvel Studios has done, than set out and make your own path. As far the ‘Fanboys’ go, a lot of them blindly and foolishly believe because the “Justice League” has been around longer than the “Avengers” and they’re more iconic, that will translate on the big screen and make them even bigger, but it does’nt work that way. I don’t care how long you’ve been around, if audiences don’t have a connection and invested interest in these characters it won’t cross over successfully. In many ways i’m a fanboy myself, but i’m very realistic about this as well. It’s easy to say all of us fanboys will go see it so it has to be the biggest hit, but that audience only goes so far with limitations. The reason “The Avengers” was such a massive hit because it went far beyond it’s comic book bounderies, it became that must see event film like “Avatar”, “Titanic”, “ET”, “Star Wars”, “Jaws”, etc before it. People who could care the least about comic book films went to see “The Avengers”, it hit reached every demographic and hit every right note. Just my take on that, so if DC wants to truly bring a “Justice League” film to the big screen which i’m all for, they just need to make sure they fully embrace it, respect the source material and put the right people into this ambitious project. Also WB needs to back off and allow DC to make their own moves. Another thing Marvel Studios was smart about is they signed with Disney for backing, distribution and promotion, but they maintined all creative control over their characters and properties, something DC could use over WB.
Kevin Smith? If his awful Batman comics are any indication, they should keep that man far away from any DC title for the rest of eternity. His approach to the superhero genre is that of n right
Who the hell is Ben Affleck to turn down a picture? In my day we didn’t ask our talent if they wanted to do a picture. We told them this is going to be your next picture, if you don’t do it for us we will bench you. We never had to bench anyone they all wanted to keep working. This was the beauty of the old contract system. Everybody was under contract and we decided who would do what and when. Nobody ever talked back to us they did as they were told. I will be at that meeting and I’m going to tell him: Ben you are going to star in Justice League as Batman and you are going to direct it as well. And if you refuse we will pay some union thugs to rough you up. Ben will leave that meeting knowing who’s boss.
Well, pardon me but like… I’m glad its not your way.
Some directors are plain wrong for a movie.
Can you imagine Stephen Sommers helming Captain America, and I suppose because he brings in box office the studio should’ve like… tacked Michael Bay onto the Avengers.
Who cares if these directors might have no strong take on the stuff.
Who cares if they don’t even want to do it.
Because thats the attitude that produces GOOD movies. Right.
hey smart ass..i think harry warner over there was making a joke..so chill
Um, I think you may have missed the winking smiley face at the end of that post
This thread brought to you by Captain Obvious, in theaters 2015. Not the superhero the world deserves, just the one it should have seen coming.
Jack, can’t they have their cake & eat it too? Can’t something be fanboy-friendly but with mainstream success? Nolan proved that, but even beyond WB’s small successes here, I think we need to look at the kind of directors that made superhero movies Box Office titans: Raimi, Favre, Whedon all started out in genre entertainment w/good direction and story-telling. All if their work got a cult-following which then lead to directing superhero gold, THAT, is what’s needed JL to shine…
The answer is “yes”, but the big audience needs to comes first in priority. At least for a movie like this (the principle wouldn’t apply to specialty art films). E.g., Whedon didn’t waste screen time explaining the Cosmic Cube, and if they even face Kang I imagine he won’t explain the convoluted lineage between Kang, immortus, and the Kree Supreme Intelligence (see, I just proved my own fanboy cred there).
For any JL live movie to work, there will first need to be a new, non-Nolan iteration of Batman. Also need to get Wonder Woman and Green Lantern back on people’s mental radar.
If it’s not Affleck, it will be another “name” director who’s totally wrong for JLA, or the Batman re-boot, or whatever, because that’s what WB does. See also: Joel Schumacher.
The town was crap. It was a complete rip off of Michael Mann’s Heat, starring Ben Affleck. What’s worse is that they didn’t even call it a reboot.
That’s just facile bunk. Yes, both are cops-vs-crew heist films full of bullets and angst, and one might even argue that THE TOWN could be influenced by Michael Mann. So what? Mann’s been making crime films for over 30 years; he’s influenced lots of movies. Besides, THE TOWN is based on a novel, and its characters and plot are different. They’re vaguely similar but not the same, not at all. You just throw out dismissive nuggets like “complete rip off” and “didn’t even call it a reboot” without making any attempt at persuasion.
I’m just spitballin here, but what about Rian Johnson? That dude is enormously talented and a nice under the raar choice in my opinion. And I’ve heard great things about Looper
Gahhh–hope this is just an unfounded rumor. The idea of Affleck directing 90% of the DC franchise team with the fat, greasy Kevin Smith screams “Must Miss!” This type of corporate thinking is why there ain’t no Warner Bros stores anymore.
This should only be done animated. Warner Animation is doing great work with the Justice League. Let them do the movie they know how to exploit these characters to their fullest potential.
Going live action with this just seems a misstep. What people don’t realise is that Warners intend to keep the Superman from Snyder’s films (Henry Cavill) and the Superman in this potential Justice League film SEPERATE franchises.
WB should just make the Justice League film a feature length, photo realistic CG animated movie the likes of which the world has never seen before.
Might as well, they have nothing to lose at this point.
I am up for this. I think he could do a great job. A good balance of action and genre experience. I hope it comes together.
I don’t…hate this idea. I just hate the thought of this being a rush job.
God they are really lost without Nolan aren’t they? Nolan is smart to step away though, he has far more to contribute than just more comic book films (you too Jonathan). He managed a truly great trilogy which is rare in film and was non-existent in comic book films. It is special…let it stay special.
Discounting whatever you or anyone may feel about how Warners is handling their DC properties, how is it a “rush job” if they’re trying to hire a director nearly *three years* ahead of a release date?
‘X-Men 3′, with Ratner stepping in six weeks before shooting (and going through three DPs in the process) was a ‘rush job.’ This isn’t…yet.
And counter to the popcorn mentality, I’d argue that ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is just as silly as ‘Spider-Man 3′ in many ways…and I don’t think I’m alone (not ‘Green Lantern’ caliber-bad, but quite non-sensical compared to Nolan’s previous two).
I disagree, The Dark Knight Rises is a great movie. It will stand up for many years to come. Nolan’s Batman trilogy is the bench mark for that genre of movies which be hard to match.
Spiderman 3 was on the level of Batman & Robin. Terrible movies that put both franchises in the deep freeze.
Facts are facts.
What’s Bob Zemeckis up to these days?