By Eduardo A. Viera
It all started in August 2013. Greg Silverman, who at the time was Warner Bros.' president of creative development and worldwide production, was more than happy to announce that DCEU’s Batman would be played by none other than Ben Affleck. This was an interesting turn of events: ten years before, Affleck had starred in the critically panned Daredevil, and in other despised movies such as Gigli (considered one of the worst movies of all time). To think that just one decade later, Warner Bros. would gleefully announce him as their new star - but more than that, be considered lucky for getting him - can be directly attributed to the hard work Affleck put into his renaissance. Starting in 2006, he started directing movies and releasing acclaimed films such as Gone Baby Gone (2007) and The Town (2010). He reached his peak with Argo in 2012, which garnered him an Oscar for Best Picture and cemented him as a triple-A star. This renaissance was part of the reason Warner Bros. wanted him, and the implications were clear: audiences were getting Ben the auteur, not Ben from the past.
However, unbeknownst to most at the time, Warner Bros. had much bigger plans for their new star. With all of his talent, the idea was for Ben Affleck to eventually write, direct and star in his own interpretation of the Batman. This is something that has never been tried before in the superhero movie industry, and so that simple idea would be enough to entice the viewers and consequently make The Batman a money-making beast. Best of all, it made complete sense: Ben Affleck has an Oscar for his scriptwriting work in Good Will Hunting (1997) and has proven his directing and acting skills repeatedly. But in order for it to work, Warner Bros. would have to groom him and keep him happy. And they did: in Zack Snyder’s overly-muscular DCEU, Batfleck was allowed to work out much less (his jacked figure in BvS was the result of make up and CGI). He was given so much creative control that they let him bring in his own screenwriter to ‘fix’ BvS. To top it all, he received a multi-picture deal to direct whatever movies he felt like.
Interestingly, even after BvS came out to bad reviews, Warner Bros. kept doubling down on Ben. Effectively, he had them in the palm of his hand. But it all came with one very special condition: he had to give back. This is how Live By Night (2016) became his big test. For starters, it was his first directing gig since being cast as the Caped Crusader. But more than that, he wrote, directed, and starred in it (remind you of The Batman?) and he was given north of 65 million dollars, the highest production budget he has ever had. This was supposed to showcase his skill, his craftsmanship, to prove that Warner Bros. was right in trusting him so much. In other words, this was supposed to be a taste of what The Batman was going to be. The result? 32% on Rotten Tomatoes and more than a 75 million dollar loss (when the marketing budget is included). Worst of all, there is no one to blame but Affleck: he had a great supporting cast, and Warner Bros. was uncharacteristically leaving him alone, all in hopes of profiting. However, now that it became a flop, everything has spiralled out of control.
Let’s take a quick look at the facts: Affleck gets cast as Batman in 2013. Live By Night gets green-lit by Warner Bros in 2015. Batman V Superman is released in 2016 to scathing reviews but almost universal praise for Batfleck. Warner Bros. moves accordingly, and change their DCEU schedule multiple times to try to incorporate The Batman as soon as possible (at one point, it was ‘leaked’ that it would come as soon as 2018). Less than a month ago, Live By Night comes out at the end of the year to bad reviews and projected loss. Since then, Ben Affleck said he is taking his time to get the script ‘right’, and three days after news come out of how much money Warner Bros. lost with Live By Night, Affleck ‘decides’ to drop out from directing. Now, it is completely possible that he decided it is too much for him. It is also possible that Warner Bros. realized their star doesn’t shine as bright as they thought and took effective action.
For now, the latter seems more likely. Less than 24 hours after Affleck dropped out of directing The Batman, Warner Bros. has already come up with a short list of directors to replace him. They’re either very quick on their feet, or Affleck was blindsided and kicked off the helm. Moreover, there seems to be a common theme between the director’s list: they are action-oriented. As mentioned before, this isn’t Affleck’s strong suit. As more information comes out, the more it seems like Warner Bros. has lost their trust on his vision and are moving as quickly as possible to fix it. This is a classic Warner move, who are known for becoming too involved in the making of a film, and considering how it’s worked out for their past DCEU movies, The Batman loses its appeal by the day.
One thing is for sure though: Affleck won’t have the same pull he used to have. Because Hollywood is how it is, his hard-earned status as an auteur has been taken away in the span of a month and he will have to work as hard (or harder) to get it back. Warner Bros. is back in control, and it is time for Affleck to cave to their demands.
Update #1: In even more recent news, Affleck seems to be ‘mad’ about the direction Warner is taking and considers leaving the DCEU. Is that true or is this just his way of reacting to getting fired?
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