Earlier this month, we heard that after quietly setting Gangster Squad scribe Will Beall to pen their Justice League movie last year, Warner Bros. were looking to give the brilliant Ben Affleck the directing job.
Affleck proved with his directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, that he is an extremely talented filmmaker on both sides of the camera, and in case anyone wasn’t convinced first time around, The Town proved it wasn’t just a fluke. And Argo looks sure to be a fantastic third film.
When the Justice League report surfaced earlier in the month, it suggested that Affleck was the only director to have been sent the script, but now it looks like the man himself has confirmed he won’t be taking the job, speaking to 24 Hours Vancouver:
““I’m not working on the Justice League. One of the problems with entertainment web sites is that they need to fill pages, and that’s how rumours get started.”
He continued, “Justice League sounds really exciting, but it’s not something I’m working on.””
In the wake of these comments, Moviehole has now reported that two other names on the studio’s wish-list are Lana and Andy Wachowski, the brilliant directors behind The Matrix Trilogy and the highly anticipated upcoming Cloud Atlas (co-directed with Tom Tykwer).
The studio, who are distributing Cloud Atlas later this year, love the siblings’ latest film, and naturally it isn’t surprising that they would want to work with them again. They’ve got considerable experience at the helm of incredibly successful films – and not just successful films, but a successful franchise in The Matrix.
For the time being, it sounds like this is very much early days / potentially just a rumour. At the very least, it’s important to note that the second report states these whisperings are simply of two more names on the list – suggesting that there are others that could potentially be being courted, as well, with Affleck opting out of the job.
Personally, I would have loved to have seen Affleck’s take on a Justice League movie, bringing together the likes of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and The Flash. But at the same time, I love the films that he’s been making in recent years as a director, and am incredibly excited to see what he’ll be working on in the years to come.
The Wachowskis’ upcoming Cloud Atlas looks nothing short of amazing, as well, spanning centuries and genres in a way previously thought impossible to do on the big screen, adapting David Mitchell’s original novel. So certainly, they sound like promising choices to work with the studio once more on their upcoming blockbuster, as an integral part of the DC Universe we have to look forward to.
Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel will be kicking things off next summer, and as yet, there’s still no confirmation whether it’s going to tie into the big picture, or whether Henry Cavill’s Superman will be re-cast for the Justice League film, and be entirely separate in its own right.
However things move forward, it’s an incredibly exciting time to be a fan of superhero / comic book movies. Marvel are promising to bring us another immense line-up in Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and with Warner Bros. promising the same on the DC side of things, we can only expect good things.
Whether the Wachowskis will be at the helm of Justice League remains to be seen. But with a bit of luck, we’ll have some concrete news to bring you soon. For now, here’s the rather incredible trailer for Cloud Atlas to give you a taste of what Lana and Andy have been working on most recently. Enjoy. (And make sure you see it as soon as it reaches a theatre near you – 26th October in the US, and 22nd March, 2013 in the UK.)
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmJVFOKaGUY’]
