Ben Affleck Finally Confirms His Standalone 'Batman' Movie Shoots in Spring 2017

Ben Affleck's 'The Batman' is expected to kick off production in the spring.

Ben Affleck, post sadness
Image via Warner Bros.
Ben Affleck, post sadness

When he's not busy inadvertently boosting Simon & Garfunkel streams, Ben Affleck is out here routinely offering frustratingly vague updates on that standalone Batman movie. Speaking with Variety ahead of the release of his gangster drama Live by Night, Affleck finally gave specificity a try by reportedly confirming the film will start shooting in the spring.

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"We're on the right track with that and everything is coming together," Affleck said at a Live by Night screening Tuesday night. "We're still finishing up a script. I'm very excited." Affleck also added in a few slices of praise for previous Batman directors: "I respect all of those [Batman] movies," he toldVariety. "Christopher Nolan did an incredible job, Christian Bale did an incredible job, Tim Burton did an incredible job. At a certain point you have to look forward and try to believe in your own vision for it and not be looking over your shoulder the whole time." Sorry, Joel Schumacher.

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The good news comes just days after Affleck offered a slightly less time-constrained update on The Batman, telling the New York Times that he was in no rush whatsoever. "I'm a real believer in not reverse-engineering projects to meet a window or a date," Affleck said Sunday. "So, that's what we're doing."

But if we're going to stick with Affleck's most recent update, then that makes him actually the second person to throw weight behind a spring 2017 production kickoff. Back in October, Joe Manganiello toldEntertainment Tonight he was "getting ready" to do Affleck-directed Batman stuff "in the spring."

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