DC Comics; Stephen Lovekin/Getty ImagesRumors that Ben Affleck was planning to take the helm of the long-in-the-works Justice League movie for Warner Bros. have been greatly exaggerated.
The actor-director set the record straight about reports of his involvement, telling Canadian news outlet 24 Hours that he is not, repeat not, in the running for the job after all.
"I'm not working on the Justice League," Affleck said. "One of the problems with entertainment websites is that they need to fill pages, and that's how rumors get started. Justice League sounds really exciting, but it's not something I'm working on."
Well, given Ben played Daredevil not so long ago in a big-screen version of the Marvel hero, maybe DC isn't his thing.
Meanwhile, Moviehole.net is now reporting that two other names who've made the studio's short list are Andy and Lana Wachowski of The Matrix trilogy fame. Per the site, Warner executives were supposedly impressed with the siblings' latest epic, Cloud Atlas, and are wooing them for the gig.
Whether or not the Wachowskis will take it is another matter. They've had success with comic book-based films in the past with V for Vendetta. They also own their own comic book company and wrote for Marvel Comics Razorline imprint and Epic Comics before becoming filmmakers. And in any case, their next project is Jupiter Ascending, starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis, which is currently in production.
A rep for the studio was unavailable to comment.
Though Warner Bros. has generally remained mum on the development of its big-screen mashup of DC Comic superheroes, Justice League nearly got off the ground a few years back with Mad Max helmer George Miller at the reins until it was canceled.
Another directing possibility that had fanboys in a tizzy was The Dark Knight Rises' Christopher Nolan, particularly since he was overseeing the reboot of Superman by executive producing Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. But the director made it clear last month in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he's not interested.
"I've got no plans to do anything more, and certainly, no involvement with any Justice League project," Nolan said at the time.
The Justice League movie is being targeted to hit theaters in summer 2015, which would see it face off against Marvel's eagerly awaited Avengers 2 at the box office.