Ben Affleck Confirms He Won’t Direct For James Gunn’s DC Studios
“Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job,” he says of Gunn. “I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that.”
Ben Affleck as Phil Knight in 'Air.' Photo: Courtesy of Amazon Studios. © Amazon Content Services LLC.
Ben Affleck’s latest gig as director, ‘Air’, is headed to theaters on April 5th.
Now, talking to The Hollywood Reporter, he’s revealed one place he definitely won’t be calling the shots: DC Studios.
Ben Affleck as Batman in 2016's 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.'
Related Article: James Gunn Confirms He’ll Direct ‘Superman Legacy’ in Emotional New Message
What did Ben Affleck say about directing at DC Studios?
Asked whether he’d be up for directing a DC movie, Affleck had this to say,
“I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC. Absolutely not. I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that.”
This is likely news –– at least in public –– to James Gunn, who took to Twitter in December replying to a fan question about Affleck by saying this:
“Met with Ben yesterday precisely because he wants to direct & we want him to direct; we just have to find the right project.”
You can read more about what Gunn said here:
Affleck also did not hold back from talking about how unhappy he was while making the theatrical version of ‘Justice League’.
Here’s what he said,
“That was the worst experience I’ve ever seen in a business which is full of some shitty experiences. It broke my heart. There was an idea of someone [Joss Whedon] coming in, like, “I’ll rescue you and we’ll do 60 days of shooting and I’ll write a whole thing around what you have. I’ve got the secret.” And it wasn’t the secret. That was hard. And I started to drink too much. I was back at the hotel in London, it was either that or jump out the window. And I just thought, ‘This isn’t the life I want. My kids aren’t here. I’m miserable.’ You want to go to work and find something interesting to hang onto, rather than just wearing a rubber suit, and most of it you’re just standing against the computer screen going, ‘If this nuclear waste gets loose, we’ll …’ That’s fine. I don’t condescend to that or put it down, but I got to a point where I found it creatively not satisfying. Also just, you’re sweaty and exhausted. And I thought, “I don’t want to participate in this in any way. And I don’t want to squander any more of my life, of which I have a limited amount.”
Despite that, he still squeezed back into the “rubber suit” for ‘The Flash’, where he reprises the role of Batman. And he feels like he finally got a handle on the role.
Affleck said this of coming back to the role,
“I did finally figure out how to play that character, and I nailed it in ‘The Flash’. For the five minutes I’m there, it’s really great. A lot of it’s just tone. You’ve got to figure out, what’s your version of the person? Who is the guy that fits what you can do? I tried to fit myself into a Batman.’
‘Air’, in which he also plays as Nike co-founder and former CEO Phil Knight, will be in theaters on April 5th before it then heads to Prime Video.
(L to R) Matthew Maher as Peter Moore, Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro and Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser in 'Air.' Photo: Ana Carballosa. © Amazon Content Services LLC.
Other Movies Similar to ‘Air:'
- ‘Good Will Hunting' (1998)
- ‘Gone Baby Gone' (2007)
- ‘The Town' (2010)
- 'Argo' (2012)
Buy Tickets: 'Air' Movie Showtimes
Buy Ben Affleck Movies on Amazon
‘Air’ is produced by David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, Jon Weinbach, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Madison Ainley, Jeff Robinov, Peter Guber, and Jason Michael Berman. It is set to release exclusive in theaters on April 5, 2023.
