Bosco685 Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 (edited) I had reservations about Affleck directing himself. I didn't seem like a good idea. Now I don't have to be concerned. It would have been his first big-picture experience. Live By Night: - Budget: $65MM - WW Box Office: $19MM - Revenue Ratio: .29X (yikes) Argo: - Budget: $44.5MM - WW Box Office: $232.3MM - Revenue Ratio: 5.2X The Town: - Budget: $37MM - WW Box Office: $154MM - Revenue Ratio: 4.2X Gone Baby Gone: - Budget: $19MM - WW Box Office: $34.6MM - Revenue Ratio: 1.82X (his first directing effort) Maybe seeing the massive work involved in BvS while he shadowed Zack Snyder was eye-opening. Not to say he couldn't have learned further in the role. Edited January 31, 2017 by Bosco685 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Jon Schnepp makes some good points, with no emotions wrapped up in the thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kagenish Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I have no problem with him stepping down from directing the Batman. when he was first announced has Batman and the word around the street was he could be directing it. I thought it would have been a huge task for him since it would have been his first $150+ million budget movie with so much on his plate. like other people have said it was a decision of seeing how much work it takes to Direct a big budget movie from seeing Zack Synder on both BvS & JL. now with the news that his not directing it but stilling writing & producing comes to me has good news he can focus for the next couple of days or weeks on finding a Director and finishing the -script. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewWorldOrder Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 When the news first broke that Affleck would be Batman, I just shook my head with disappointment. And when I watched BvS, I was disappointed with that movie. But boy was I wrong about Affleck as he gave me the best portrayal of Batman/Wayne I've ever seen. He gave me the Batman I've always wanted to see on screen, close to my preferred version of the character as written by Frank Miller. He did a good job as Frank Miller's Batman. Old, grouchy, overly righteous, I dug it. How old is Ben Affleck supposed to be in BvS? 50's? If he is playing his real life age 44 then he is not old. I don't know about some of you but growing up I just assumed Batman was late 30's or early 40's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantastic_four Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I had reservations about Affleck directing himself. I didn't seem like a good idea. Now I don't have to be concerned. It would have been his first big-picture experience. Live By Night: - Budget: $65MM - WW Box Office: $19MM - Revenue Ratio: .29X (yikes) Argo: - Budget: $44.5MM - WW Box Office: $232.3MM - Revenue Ratio: 5.2X The Town: - Budget: $37MM - WW Box Office: $154MM - Revenue Ratio: 4.2X Gone Baby Gone: - Budget: $19MM - WW Box Office: $34.6MM - Revenue Ratio: 1.82X (his first directing effort) Maybe seeing the massive work involved in BvS while he shadowed Zack Snyder was eye-opening. Not to say he couldn't have learned further in the role. Three of those films have impeccable critical acclaim. That combined with the fact that Affleck has starred or co-starred in multiple blockbusters makes the idea of him directing one of his own a no-brainer. Writing, directing, and starring all in the same one is another matter. Not surprising he doesn't want to do it all particularly given that he's also committed to direct and star in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Witness for the Prosecution" next year. Directing is the work that takes the most time commitment for a film, so freeing himself up makes sense. He may also be gun shy about directing a superhero film. He didn't see Daredevil and BvS being critical disasters, and he probably didn't see that happening for his recent Live by Night film, either, so he probably prefers to keep directing dramas for now since that's where he's had success so far. If these DC movies keep bombing I predict he'll drop out of Batman entirely before this film gets made. If the Justice League movie ends up being the disaster half of Hollywood is predicting it's hard to see him continuing the role. He's a well-known superhero fan, but I'm sure he'd much rather be a part of a universe that's being critically accepted like Marvel has done. No way he wants to keep being the post-Nolan Batman whipping boy for critics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Live By Night: - Budget: $65MM - WW Box Office: $19MM - Revenue Ratio: .29X (yikes) He's just got the grumps... "You didn't like my movie? I won't direct myself in The Batman " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Argo: - Budget: $44.5MM - WW Box Office: $232.3MM - Revenue Ratio: 5.2X Loved William H. Macy in this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatsby77 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I had reservations about Affleck directing himself. I didn't seem like a good idea. Now I don't have to be concerned. It would have been his first big-picture experience. Live By Night: - Budget: $65MM - WW Box Office: $19MM - Revenue Ratio: .29X (yikes) Argo: - Budget: $44.5MM - WW Box Office: $232.3MM - Revenue Ratio: 5.2X The Town: - Budget: $37MM - WW Box Office: $154MM - Revenue Ratio: 4.2X Gone Baby Gone: - Budget: $19MM - WW Box Office: $34.6MM - Revenue Ratio: 1.82X (his first directing effort) Maybe seeing the massive work involved in BvS while he shadowed Zack Snyder was eye-opening. Not to say he couldn't have learned further in the role. Three of those films have impeccable critical acclaim. That combined with the fact that Affleck has starred or co-starred in multiple blockbusters makes the idea of him directing one of his own a no-brainer. Writing, directing, and starring all in the same one is another matter. Not surprising he doesn't want to do it all particularly given that he's also committed to direct and star in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Witness for the Prosecution" next year. Directing is the work that takes the most time commitment for a film, so freeing himself up makes sense. He may also be gun shy about directing a superhero film. He didn't see Daredevil and BvS being critical disasters, and he probably didn't see that happening for his recent Live by Night film, either, so he probably prefers to keep directing dramas for now since that's where he's had success so far. If these DC movies keep bombing I predict he'll drop out of Batman entirely before this film gets made. If the Justice League movie ends up being the disaster half of Hollywood is predicting it's hard to see him continuing the role. He's a well-known superhero fan, but I'm sure he'd much rather be a part of a universe that's being critically accepted like Marvel has done. No way he wants to keep being the post-Nolan Batman whipping boy for critics. I absolutely agree with this. In recent years Hollywood has had no problem elevating far less accomplished directors than Affleck to blockbusters immediately. And he has _far_ more experience actually in blockbusters than most of those directors (going back to Armageddon). Granted, some of these elevations have had disastrous results -- but by no means all: Gareth Edwards: Monsters --> Godzilla Jon Watts: Cop Car --> Spider-Man: Homecoming Marc Webb: 500 Days of Summer --> The Amazing Spider-Man Neil Blompkamp: District 9 --> Elysium Patty Jenkins: Monster --> Wonder Woman Scott Derrickson: Sinister --> Dr. Strange Rian Johnson: Looper ($30 million budget) --> Episode 8 The first five on that list each had one low-budget dramatic film to their name when they were given the keys to the kingdom. And none had anywhere close to the directing record of Affleck. and of course: Josh Trank: Chronicle --> Fantastic Four Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kagenish Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I had reservations about Affleck directing himself. I didn't seem like a good idea. Now I don't have to be concerned. It would have been his first big-picture experience. Live By Night: - Budget: $65MM - WW Box Office: $19MM - Revenue Ratio: .29X (yikes) Argo: - Budget: $44.5MM - WW Box Office: $232.3MM - Revenue Ratio: 5.2X The Town: - Budget: $37MM - WW Box Office: $154MM - Revenue Ratio: 4.2X Gone Baby Gone: - Budget: $19MM - WW Box Office: $34.6MM - Revenue Ratio: 1.82X (his first directing effort) Maybe seeing the massive work involved in BvS while he shadowed Zack Snyder was eye-opening. Not to say he couldn't have learned further in the role. Three of those films have impeccable critical acclaim. That combined with the fact that Affleck has starred or co-starred in multiple blockbusters makes the idea of him directing one of his own a no-brainer. Writing, directing, and starring all in the same one is another matter. Not surprising he doesn't want to do it all particularly given that he's also committed to direct and star in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Witness for the Prosecution" next year. Directing is the work that takes the most time commitment for a film, so freeing himself up makes sense. He may also be gun shy about directing a superhero film. He didn't see Daredevil and BvS being critical disasters, and he probably didn't see that happening for his recent Live by Night film, either, so he probably prefers to keep directing dramas for now since that's where he's had success so far. If these DC movies keep bombing I predict he'll drop out of Batman entirely before this film gets made. If the Justice League movie ends up being the disaster half of Hollywood is predicting it's hard to see him continuing the role. He's a well-known superhero fan, but I'm sure he'd much rather be a part of a universe that's being critically accepted like Marvel has done. No way he wants to keep being the post-Nolan Batman whipping boy for critics. I absolutely agree with this. In recent years Hollywood has had no problem elevating far less accomplished directors than Affleck to blockbusters immediately. And he has _far_ more experience actually in blockbusters than most of those directors (going back to Armageddon). Granted, some of these elevations have had disastrous results -- but by no means all: Gareth Edwards: Monsters --> Godzilla Jon Watts: Cop Car --> Spider-Man: Homecoming Marc Webb: 500 Days of Summer --> The Amazing Spider-Man Neil Blompkamp: District 9 --> Elysium Patty Jenkins: Monster --> Wonder Woman Scott Derrickson: Sinister --> Dr. Strange Rian Johnson: Looper ($30 million budget) --> Episode 8 The first five on that list each had one low-budget dramatic film to their name when they were given the keys to the kingdom. And none had anywhere close to the directing record of Affleck. and of course: Josh Trank: Chronicle --> Fantastic Four the one thing we need to remember is the amount of time and work he had to put into not just acting but directing the movie making sure everything else is running correctly. Ben is one of the only few people that act, write, and direct movies plus he probably doesn't feel comfortable taking such a big challenge and I wouldn't want him to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nearmint Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 If these DC movies keep bombing I predict he'll drop out of Batman entirely before this film gets made. If the Justice League movie ends up being the disaster half of Hollywood is predicting it's hard to see him continuing the role. While The Batman won't go into production in early April, as planned, it's likely that it will start up before JLA is released in November, so Affleck probably won't have the benefit of seeing how other DC movies fair, except for Wonder Woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revat Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 If these DC movies keep bombing I predict he'll drop out of Batman entirely before this film gets made. If the Justice League movie ends up being the disaster half of Hollywood is predicting it's hard to see him continuing the role. While The Batman won't go into production in early April, as planned, it's likely that it will start up before JLA is released in November, so Affleck probably won't have the benefit of seeing how other DC movies fair, except for Wonder Woman. I could be wrong, but I think on average people are looking at Wonder Woman as the last chance for the DCEU before they peace out entirely, especially since expectations seem fairly favorable for WW. 4 mediocre movies in a row should pretty much sink the franchise. We went with large groups on opening night to watch BvS and SS, and we were disappointed and a little less disappointed, respectively. I want to see Wonder Woman, but now its on my 'wait for reviews' list (movies are expensive!), and I'm guessing a lot of other people feel the same way. Note that GOTG 2 and Spiderman are still on the opening night party group watch list. Logan is on the "I'll see it, but not opening night" list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nearmint Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I could be wrong, but I think on average people are looking at Wonder Woman as the last chance for the DCEU before they peace out entirely, especially since expectations seem fairly favorable for WW. 4 mediocre movies in a row should pretty much sink the franchise. It wouldn't even occur to me to skip JLA if I didn't like Wonder Woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revat Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I could be wrong, but I think on average people are looking at Wonder Woman as the last chance for the DCEU before they peace out entirely, especially since expectations seem fairly favorable for WW. 4 mediocre movies in a row should pretty much sink the franchise. It wouldn't even occur to me to skip JLA if I didn't like Wonder Woman. I like movies, and I see a lot, but they're costly. I'd rather not see any movies that rate 6/10 or below on my scale. Last year the two worst movies (and they weren't so much awful as disappointing) I saw in the theater were BvS and SS, with Now You See Me 2 and Assassins Creed (friend made me watch it)definitely in the mix. If Wonder Woman isn't good, I will have even less faith that Justice League will be good (but I KNOW IT WILL BE LONG). There's just too many other good movies out there to waste budget when there's enough sample size for me to draw an unfavorable conclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEnglandGothic Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I could be wrong, but I think on average people are looking at Wonder Woman as the last chance for the DCEU before they peace out entirely, especially since expectations seem fairly favorable for WW. 4 mediocre movies in a row should pretty much sink the franchise. It wouldn't even occur to me to skip JLA if I didn't like Wonder Woman. I like movies, and I see a lot, but they're costly. I'd rather not see any movies that rate 6/10 or below on my scale. Last year the two worst movies (and they weren't so much awful as disappointing) I saw in the theater were BvS and SS, with Now You See Me 2 and Assassins Creed (friend made me watch it)definitely in the mix. If Wonder Woman isn't good, I will have even less faith that Justice League will be good (but I KNOW IT WILL BE LONG). There's just too many other good movies out there to waste budget when there's enough sample size for me to draw an unfavorable conclusion. I still cannot understand the climax of Now You See Me 2. They all are on the plane wing at the end, grinning and waving, yet the police don't arrest them on the spot, only to let them go through some long-drawn-out explanation on why the bad guys were bad guys, that would never hold up in any court domestic or international. ...and why would Morgan Freeman rot in prison for a year, to let the team grow, if he was the real mastermind of everything. You would think he would have came up with a better plan ("trick.") Don't click on this if you haven't watched the movie yet. Don't watch the movie, if you haven't watched it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drotto Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I see lots of people trying to put a positive spin on the Affleck news, but you are not going to convince me that pulling out as director, saying he will only do it if the -script is 100%, and even some rumors that he may pull away from the role if things to not go well with Justice League, are just minor bumps. On the other end the studio seems to be giving us report that are completely different from him, like the -script is coming along well, and filming will start very soon. Someone here is not giving us the whole story. I also agree that if WW, and at this point JL are not well received both critically, and by fans (none of this divisive headlines from the last three movies), that the entre DCEU is in very big trouble. This is a make or break year for them. Marvel is almost guaranteed a hit with GOTG 2, and Thor will hold its own (meaning make about $650 mil worldwide). So they will be OK. If DC on the other hand has more so so movies and comic movie fatigue sets in will absolutely kill them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 I see lots of people trying to put a positive spin on the Affleck news, but you are not going to convince me that pulling out as director, saying he will only do it if the -script is 100%, and even some rumors that he may pull away from the role if things to not go well with Justice League, are just minor bumps. On the other end the studio seems to be giving us report that are completely different from him, like the -script is coming along well, and filming will start very soon. Someone here is not giving us the whole story. I also agree that if WW, and at this point JL are not well received both critically, and by fans (none of this divisive headlines from the last three movies), that the entre DCEU is in very big trouble. This is a make or break year for them. Marvel is almost guaranteed a hit with GOTG 2, and Thor will hold its own (meaning make about $650 mil worldwide). So they will be OK. If DC on the other hand has more so so movies and comic movie fatigue sets in will absolutely kill them. Let's try and take the 'oh goody - more negative news to support my claims' emotions out of this, and attempt to look at the situation from a clock perspective. Meaning time in the day to do it all, and days in the year to pull this together. He was producing, writing, directing, and acting/massively working out to make the entire picture come together. Anyone even attempting to guesstimate the hours that goes into all this for each responsibility? I think gym work alone is well over two hours. Which is what took him from 198 lbs. in 'The Town' to 231 lbs. in 'Batman v Superman'. How Ben Affleck Got Big For Batman Anyone have any examples other than this from a superhero movie of this size where one (1) person did all these roles? Heck, I get up 5 AM just to get a 45 minute workout in, and still feel like I ran out of time in the day. Imagine doing four (4) jobs - including all that continuous working out. Hats off to Affleck if he maturely looked at the same situation and finally admitted to the studio something had to give, or the movie would fail. Why is that not that an option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantastic_four Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 I could be wrong, but I think on average people are looking at Wonder Woman as the last chance for the DCEU before they peace out entirely, especially since expectations seem fairly favorable for WW. All I can think about when I think of Wonder Woman is how great Suicide Squad looked after the first trailer or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accessndx Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 I see lots of people trying to put a positive spin on the Affleck news, but you are not going to convince me that pulling out as director, saying he will only do it if the -script is 100%, and even some rumors that he may pull away from the role if things to not go well with Justice League, are just minor bumps. On the other end the studio seems to be giving us report that are completely different from him, like the -script is coming along well, and filming will start very soon. Someone here is not giving us the whole story. I also agree that if WW, and at this point JL are not well received both critically, and by fans (none of this divisive headlines from the last three movies), that the entre DCEU is in very big trouble. This is a make or break year for them. Marvel is almost guaranteed a hit with GOTG 2, and Thor will hold its own (meaning make about $650 mil worldwide). So they will be OK. If DC on the other hand has more so so movies and comic movie fatigue sets in will absolutely kill them. Let's try and take the 'oh goody - more negative news to support my claims' emotions out of this, and attempt to look at the situation from a clock perspective. Meaning time in the day to do it all, and days in the year to pull this together. He was producing, writing, directing, and acting/massively working out to make the entire picture come together. Anyone even attempting to guesstimate the hours that goes into all this for each responsibility? I think gym work alone is well over two hours. Which is what took him from 198 lbs. in 'The Town' to 231 lbs. in 'Batman v Superman'. How Ben Affleck Got Big For Batman Anyone have any examples other than this from a superhero movie of this size where one (1) person did all these roles? Heck, I get up 5 AM just to get a 45 minute workout in, and still feel like I ran out of time in the day. Imagine doing four (4) jobs - including all that continuous working out. Hats off to Affleck if he maturely looked at the same situation and finally admitted to the studio something had to give, or the movie would fail. Why is that not that an option? What you say is in fact true. But these facts are being revealed at the same time that we're hearing "what a mess the JLA" movie is. Which is also on the heels of two controversial DC movies that were supposed to help the franchise get kicked off to an AMAZING start. Even if you thought the movies released to date so far are "ok" or "good", we can pretty much rule out "mindblowing" and "spectacular" and "best ever", etc. Then we've heard about folks jumping ship because they think the creative direction sucks....like the Flash director Rick Famuyiwa. Even David Ayer had regrets concerning the direction he took his film in with the Joker. The list of issues continues to grow. There's alot riding on these movies for WB/DC and everyone involved in the projects. So when you couple the mediocre movies that have been released, with the reports that have been surfacing it's not hard to imagine that there's some trouble brewing. Don't forget for a split second that almost every bit of casting they've done has been shall we say....less than optimal for fans. Jessie Eisenberg who STILL SUCKS no matter how much you love the BvS movie.....he's destroyed the Luther brand for sure in this franchise and his presence is at best irritating. They aren't really listening to what fans want, and that's the problem. They're cramming what they think the fans want...down their throat...and then are surprised by the aftermath of criticism. I'm hopeful they'll pull the plane up before it crashes into the Andes, but I'm fully expecting casualties and confusion like last time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco685 Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 I see lots of people trying to put a positive spin on the Affleck news, but you are not going to convince me that pulling out as director, saying he will only do it if the -script is 100%, and even some rumors that he may pull away from the role if things to not go well with Justice League, are just minor bumps. On the other end the studio seems to be giving us report that are completely different from him, like the -script is coming along well, and filming will start very soon. Someone here is not giving us the whole story. I also agree that if WW, and at this point JL are not well received both critically, and by fans (none of this divisive headlines from the last three movies), that the entre DCEU is in very big trouble. This is a make or break year for them. Marvel is almost guaranteed a hit with GOTG 2, and Thor will hold its own (meaning make about $650 mil worldwide). So they will be OK. If DC on the other hand has more so so movies and comic movie fatigue sets in will absolutely kill them. Let's try and take the 'oh goody - more negative news to support my claims' emotions out of this, and attempt to look at the situation from a clock perspective. Meaning time in the day to do it all, and days in the year to pull this together. He was producing, writing, directing, and acting/massively working out to make the entire picture come together. Anyone even attempting to guesstimate the hours that goes into all this for each responsibility? I think gym work alone is well over two hours. Which is what took him from 198 lbs. in 'The Town' to 231 lbs. in 'Batman v Superman'. How Ben Affleck Got Big For Batman Anyone have any examples other than this from a superhero movie of this size where one (1) person did all these roles? Heck, I get up 5 AM just to get a 45 minute workout in, and still feel like I ran out of time in the day. Imagine doing four (4) jobs - including all that continuous working out. Hats off to Affleck if he maturely looked at the same situation and finally admitted to the studio something had to give, or the movie would fail. Why is that not that an option? What you say is in fact true. But these facts are being revealed at the same time that we're hearing "what a mess the JLA" movie is. Which is also on the heels of two controversial DC movies that were supposed to help the franchise get kicked off to an AMAZING start. Even if you thought the movies released to date so far are "ok" or "good", we can pretty much rule out "mindblowing" and "spectacular" and "best ever", etc. Then we've heard about folks jumping ship because they think the creative direction sucks....like the Flash director Rick Famuyiwa. Even David Ayer had regrets concerning the direction he took his film in with the Joker. The list of issues continues to grow. There's alot riding on these movies for WB/DC and everyone involved in the projects. So when you couple the mediocre movies that have been released, with the reports that have been surfacing it's not hard to imagine that there's some trouble brewing. Don't forget for a split second that almost every bit of casting they've done has been shall we say....less than optimal for fans. Jessie Eisenberg who STILL SUCKS no matter how much you love the BvS movie.....he's destroyed the Luther brand for sure in this franchise and his presence is at best irritating. They aren't really listening to what fans want, and that's the problem. They're cramming what they think the fans want...down their throat...and then are surprised by the aftermath of criticism. I'm hopeful they'll pull the plane up before it crashes into the Andes, but I'm fully expecting casualties and confusion like last time. Fair enough. It is painful to see any major hiccup with this franchise, as this should go much smoother. Not to say I have not been pleased with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, and okay with Suicide Squad (though Ayer coming out later and admitting Joker should have been the villain was interesting). I remember reading back in 2013-2014 how the Warner Bros. CEO was promising to follow Marvel's franchise lead, but ensuring the studio maintained its commitment to directors owning and driving forward the stories they feel will matter the most. I wonder if this is where the differences are coming into play with gaining wider audience excitement leading to internal friction. Including directors bailing on certain productions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nearmint Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 But these facts are being revealed at the same time that we're hearing "what a mess the JLA" movie is. I just can't take rumors like that seriously more than 9 months before a film's release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
