UPDATE: THR is reporting that Affleck will direct the film, as expected.
Not that this should surprise anyone, but Warner Bros. has finally officially confirmed the solo Batman movie. The announcement came from WB chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara, who told attendees at CinemaCon today that “we’re excited to be working with Ben Affleck on a standalone Batman film.”
While we know that the actor is helping out on the script with DC Comics CCO Geoff Johns, there was no mention of him directing the film at today’s panel. There have been murmurings about Affleck taking the reigns of the solo Bat flick for a while now, but Tsujihara’s comments today provided no further clarification on whether that was still happening or not. All we know for sure is that the film is in development and Affleck will star and develop the script.
Obviously, given Big Ben’s tremendous success behind the camera lately, we’re all hopeful that he’ll direct. For now, however, we’re just pleased to finally get some official confirmation that the film is happening. Affleck’s Caped Crusader was a definite highlight of the otherwise mediocre Batman V Superman and getting to see him in his own standalone outing should prove to be a real treat.
When Affleck will find time to actually make the movie is another matter entirely, as he’s currently got quite a busy schedule what with Justice League starting to shoot and Live by Night in post-production. DC did, however, set movies for October 5th, 2018 and November 1st, 2019 – so it’s likely that one of those dates will be when we’ll see The Batman, as it’s apparently being called.
