Do you hear that? That's the sound of Warner Bros. breathing the loudest sigh of relief you've ever heard.
Stories had been circulating for the past couple of weeks that Affleck wasn't exactly gone on the whole idea of directing The Batman. As we reported, Affleck wasn't going to take on the solo Batman film unless he was happy with the screenplay. This corroborated other statements he'd made earlier in 2016 about the script for The Batman, saying that it didn't meet his high standard.
However, on last night's Jimmy Kimmel, Affleck stated pretty unequivocally that he's going to direct The Batman. Take a look.
That's pretty cut and dry, right? Well, it could be that time has elapsed between when he gave the interview stating his opinion about the script and then or it could be that Kimmel put him on the spot and he declared it as fact. It's probably a little of both.
Affleck was likely given carte blanche on The Batman and most likely had it locked in as part of his contract for taking on the character. Although Live By Night has been getting middling reviews so far, it's a rare misstep in what's been a hot streak for films he's directed. If Warners give him a wide enough berth to do what he wants with Batman, there could be something really interesting here.
His performance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a highlight of the film, so here's hoping that The Batman lives up to the expectations.
