Warner Bros. plans for their DC Comics big screen universe is getting a tiny shakeup between Justice League and Ben Affleck’s The Batman, partially due to an overdue Zack Snyder passion project. Snyder is still directing both Justice League and its sequel according to The Hollywood Reporter, but he will be tackling a non-superhero film in between the two massive tentpole films, titled The Last Photograph:
Snyder is still intent on directing Justice League 2, but that movie has been pushed back to make room for Ben Affleck’s Batman stand-alone movie. The move left an opening in Snyder’s schedule for a production that is smaller-scale, at least compared to massive superhero tentpoles he has been working on of late. Call it a palate cleanser, if you will.
Snyder set up the project in the mid-2000s, after the success of 300, but the rights lapsed. Gianni Nunnari’s Hollywood Gang is in the process of negotiating a new deal.
The move will see The Batman get a summer release in 2019, hitting theaters in June and while Justice League Part 2 will land in November. Does this indicate trouble? Probably not. It seems to line up with a pretty clear plan to have the Justice League compete for the holiday box office while giving each member and other solo DC Comics films a chance to shine in between. Having The Batman happen between the Justice League films lets it hang out with The Flash and Aquaman, with a short detour with Shazam. It also gives us a solo Batman movie earlier, so that’s not bad.
As for Snyder’s passion project, it couldn’t be more different than the adventures of DC Comic’s premiere superteam. Christian Bale and Sean Penn were once attached to star according to The Hollywood Reporter, just to cement the type of film Snyder is going for:
Photograph centers on a war correspondent in Afghanistan who is the only one to survive an attack on a group of Americans. When a special ops soldier in search of a family member shows up, the two team up, with the correspondent hoping to score the story of his life.
Sounds interesting and would be nice to see Snyder pull back just a bit. Dawn Of The Dead and 300 were fine movies that trimmed the fat that always seems to be left on Snyder’s later films. A smaller feature could help break that trend.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)