Michel Bay Will Only Direct Lobo If The Budget Is Cut

Lobo has been noticeably absent from the DC film calendars over the years for inexplicable reasons. It’s rather shocking, too, when you consider he’s the perfect answer to Deadpool, and he could’ve been the most popular antihero before the Merc with the Mouth stole moviegoers’ hearts (and wallets).

Of course, there were talks at one point of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson being in deep discussions to portray Lobo in a film, with Guy Ritchie directing, but those plans rapidly deteriorated into nothingness – until today. As you’ve no doubt heard, chatter about a movie for the beloved character sparked back up a few hours ago when The Wrap reported that Michael Bay has met with Warner Bros. to discuss the long-gestating antihero pic, all the while offering his own input on Jason Fuchs’ (Wonder Woman) screenplay.

That advice will presumably form the basis of a rewrite for what may well be Warner’s answer to Deadpool, but despite this big update, we shouldn’t count on seeing the project get off the ground just yet. And that’s because THR has some more info on the situation and they’re telling us that currently, Lobo has a $200 million price tag attached to it. That’s a huge budget for any film, let alone an R-rated one about a character who most general moviegoers probably haven’t even heard of.

As such, Bay is saying he won’t direct it unless that $200 million is lowered and Warner Bros. is in agreement, stating that they need to find a way to cut it down. Now, it’s up to Fuchs to rework his script into something a little more affordable and should he be able to do that, we imagine this project will get the green light. For now, though, it’d be best to hold off on getting too excited.

If Michael Bay does end up directing Lobo though, it would be his first foray into the comic book movie world, and the film’s first tangible sign of progress since Brad Peyton (San Andreas) passed up the chance to helm his own version of the cigar-chomping rogue back in 2013. It’s been a long time coming, then, and as huge fans of the character ourselves, we can only hope that DC’s finally about to get the project off the ground this time.