Zack Snyder has begun lining up his next project, but it surprisingly won’t have any ties to the world of comic books. Rather than jumping straight on to Justice League 2 following the release of the first film next November (as was the original plan), Snyder will instead take the helm of a movie he started developing around the time 300 was released.
It’s called The Last Photograph and was penned by his regular collaborator Kurt Johnstad. Here’s how the project is described by The Hollywood Reporter:
“Photograph centers on a war correspondent in Afghanistan who is the only one to survive an attack on a group of Americans. When a special ops soldier in search of a family member shows up, the two team up, with the correspondent hoping to score the story of his life.”
So, a pretty big departure from his work in the DC Extended Universe, but what does this mean for the Justice League sequel? Well, the trade adds that while Snyder is still “intent” on taking the helm of that movie, Warner Bros. has pushed it back in order to make room for Ben Affleck’s The Batman.
That makes sense, but reading between the lines, it’s pretty obvious that the studio is holding off on moving forward with another Justice League movie until they see how the first one performs. After all, if it were to receive the same critical and commercial response as Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, chances are they wouldn’t want Snyder back at the helm.
Given that it’s not based on any comic book properties, it’ll be interesting to see what the director does with The Last Photograph. The script is expected to get a re-write, and Snyder hopes to start shooting shortly after Justice League finally reaches the big screen next November. No word on casting just yet, but expect more news to arise shortly.
