With many corners of the internet still absolutely aghast that Ben Affleck will play Batman in “Superman Vs. Batman” aka “Man Of Steel 2,” the actor/writer/director is currently re-orienting his potential plate of directorial projects. As one might expect, the shoot for the “Man Of Steel” sequel will likely keep Affleck out of the game for a good chunk of 2014. Hell, he was previously slated to helm the adaptation of Dennis Lehane‘s “Live By Night” for release next year, but clearly, that’s not going to happen. And now you can take a couple other directorial gigs off his slate.
First up, The Wrap has noted that Affleck is no longer attached to direct the remake of Guillaume Canet‘s nifty French thriller “Tell No One.” There’s no exact reason why, though not much has been heard about it in a couple of years at least. We’d wager that while “Argo” writer Chris Terrio was penning the script, perhaps they couldn’t crack the story to make it their own. That, and the fact that producer Kathleen Kennedy, involved with the project from the start (though we’re not sure she still is), likely has her hands full as it is shepherding the plethora of “Star Wars” movies on the way. We weren’t always so hot on the idea, so perhaps it’s not a bad thing this one isn’t moving at any kind of speed.
Meanwhile, Deadline reveals that the adaptation of Stephen King‘s epic “The Stand” is now changing hands again. First slated to be helmed by David Yates, and then taken over by Affleck a couple of years ago, now it’s “Crazy Heart” and “Out Of The Furnace” filmmaker Scott Cooper who will take a crack at it. While David Kajganich (“The Invasion,” “Town Creek“) was tapped in 2012 to pen the script, Cooper will do a rewrite on the material, which tells the story of a group of survivors who encounter all kinds of weirdness after a virus kills off 99% of the world’s population.
It’s being deemed a “priority project” at WB (probably after seeing “Under The Dome” become a hit this summer on TV) but we’ll see how fast it develops. As for Affleck, consider it a bit of housekeeping before he goes shopping for batbelts.