Ben Affleck Says Filming Justice League Is The "Worst Experience" Of His Life
We will see him again in The Flash as Bruce Wayne, but Ben Affleck will definitely be done with Batman after the movie directed by Andy Muschietti.
The Oscar-winning actor and director told the Los Angeles Times about some of his past with DC Films and Warner Bros., and the topics included two films in particular.
The first is the famous The Batman, a film that would have been directed, written and starred by Affleck himself and in line with the events of the DC Extended Universe. After various vicissitudes, The Batman was passed into the hands of Matt Reeves and became an independent film starring Robert Pattinson in the role of the iconic Gotham Crusader as Affleck decided to completely withdraw from the project.
“Directing Batman is a good example. I looked at it and thought, ‘I’m not going to be happy doing this. The person who does this should love it.’ You’re supposed to always want these things, and I probably would have loved doing it at 32 or something. But it was the point where I started to realize it’s not worth it. It’s just a wonderful benefit of reorienting and recalibrating your priorities that once it started being more about the experience, I felt more at ease," he said.
Speaking of the DCEU, the interviewer could not help but bring into question the other two films that included Affleck in the role of Wayne: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and, of course, Justice League - the movie that was born under bad auspices and later turned out to be a huge flop for Warner Bros with only less than $ 660 million gross, too little to be considered a major success.
“It was really Justice League that was the nadir for me. That was a bad experience because of a confluence of things: my own life, my divorce, being away too much, the competing agendas and then Zack’s personal tragedy and the reshooting. It just was the worst experience. It was awful. It was everything that I didn’t like about this," the actor shared. “That became the moment where I said, ‘I’m not doing this anymore.’ It’s not even about, like, Justice League was so bad. Because it could have been anything.”
The tragedy Affleck referred to was the suicide of director Zack Snyder's daughter Autumn, which caused him to step down from the DC project.
Therefore, it's easy to understand why Affleck does not keep fond memories of filming the DC crossover, which was supposed to launch the extended universe in theaters but actually served as the tombstone for many characters instead. The climate on set, especially during Whedon's additional shots, was certainly not light and enjoyable, as we already know from other statements. Ray Fisher (Cyborg) has accused the management of Warner Bros. of treating him unfairly, while Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) has explained on several occasions that she was verbally harassed by Joss Whedon.
The Oscar-winning actor and director told the Los Angeles Times about some of his past with DC Films and Warner Bros., and the topics included two films in particular.
The first is the famous The Batman, a film that would have been directed, written and starred by Affleck himself and in line with the events of the DC Extended Universe. After various vicissitudes, The Batman was passed into the hands of Matt Reeves and became an independent film starring Robert Pattinson in the role of the iconic Gotham Crusader as Affleck decided to completely withdraw from the project.
Image source: Warner Bros. Pictures
“Directing Batman is a good example. I looked at it and thought, ‘I’m not going to be happy doing this. The person who does this should love it.’ You’re supposed to always want these things, and I probably would have loved doing it at 32 or something. But it was the point where I started to realize it’s not worth it. It’s just a wonderful benefit of reorienting and recalibrating your priorities that once it started being more about the experience, I felt more at ease," he said.
Speaking of the DCEU, the interviewer could not help but bring into question the other two films that included Affleck in the role of Wayne: Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and, of course, Justice League - the movie that was born under bad auspices and later turned out to be a huge flop for Warner Bros with only less than $ 660 million gross, too little to be considered a major success.
Image source: Warner Bros. Pictures
“It was really Justice League that was the nadir for me. That was a bad experience because of a confluence of things: my own life, my divorce, being away too much, the competing agendas and then Zack’s personal tragedy and the reshooting. It just was the worst experience. It was awful. It was everything that I didn’t like about this," the actor shared. “That became the moment where I said, ‘I’m not doing this anymore.’ It’s not even about, like, Justice League was so bad. Because it could have been anything.”
The tragedy Affleck referred to was the suicide of director Zack Snyder's daughter Autumn, which caused him to step down from the DC project.
Therefore, it's easy to understand why Affleck does not keep fond memories of filming the DC crossover, which was supposed to launch the extended universe in theaters but actually served as the tombstone for many characters instead. The climate on set, especially during Whedon's additional shots, was certainly not light and enjoyable, as we already know from other statements. Ray Fisher (Cyborg) has accused the management of Warner Bros. of treating him unfairly, while Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) has explained on several occasions that she was verbally harassed by Joss Whedon.
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