With the DC Comics/Warner Bros. highly anticipated Comic-Con Hall H presentation fast approaching on Saturday, news has surfaced that Ben Affleck is going full Batman. He will direct, star, and, along with DC’s Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, co-write the screenplay for the upcoming solo film spotlighting Gotham’s Dark Knight.
Sources tell Deadline Affleck next gig is starring in and directing the adaptation of Gone Girl author Dennis Lehane’s novel Live By Night in November for WB, a project he put on the back burner to star in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The Batman film will go into production after that, the events of which will follow BvS and Justice League, Part 1.
Geoff Johns and Affleck are said to be “well in sync and have more than found their rhythm” as far as the Batman screenplay goes, and may very well have it completed by the end of the summer. In addition to various comic book stints with DC icons including Green Lantern, Batman, Superman and The Flash, Johns has also penned episodes of The CW’s Smallville, Arrow and The Flash.
Affleck has maintained a steady and successful creative relationship with Warner Bros., helming Gone Baby Gone, The Town, Argo and Gone Girl. With that it wasn’t that much of a reach for the studio to have him follow Christian Bale as the next big screen Caped Crusader, a deal which likely included eventually taking the reins of tent pole opportunity with the character sometime down the line.
While talking up BvS in the Comic-Con issue of Entertainment Weekly, he hinted a superhero film would be in his future. “I thought if I was going to direct a movie like this, which I would like to do at some point, I need to have something of a refresher course of how these movies are done,” he said.
Expect much more details to come, perhaps even a targeted release date, on Saturday from Comic-Con when Affleck hits the Hall H stage with his BvS co-star Henry Cavill and director Zack Snyder.
SOURCE: Deadline
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