Warner Bros. wants Ben Affleck to direct ‘Justice League’

With Christopher Nolan declaring himself out of the running for JUSTICE LEAGUE, Warner Bros. has approached another of its go-to directors in Ben Affleck, who’s expected to discuss the project with studio brass in the coming days, multiple sources tell Variety's Jeff Sneider and Justin Kroll. Since guiding WB’s THE TOWN to commercial success and critical acclaim from both sides of the camera, Affleck has ascended high on the studio’s list of filmmakers who can be trusted with prime properties. Thus far, Affleck is the only candidate who’s been sent Will Beall’s JUSTICE LEAGUE script, which the GANGSTER SQUAD scribe was hired to write last summer. DC Comics’ answer to Marvel’s Avengers, JUSTICE LEAGUE is expected to bring together marquee characters
Batman and Superman, as well as Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and The Flash. Affleck has made it clear that he’s only interested in directing films in which he also stars — THE TOWN and ARGO are proof of that — so its likely that if this pairing ever came to fruition, he would don a suit of his own. One possible hesitation on Affleck’s part is that any involvement with JUSTICE LEAGUE would take him out of circulation as a director for a few years. He could, however, still fit in an acting gig at Warners. Affleck has spent the last several weeks mulling an offer to star in topline Greg Berlanti’s long-gestating sci-fi drama REPLAY, which WB has spent more than a decade developing. Based on Ken Grimwood’s 1987 bestseller, story follows a man who dies and gets the chance to relive his life over and over again, changing partners and professions each time. JUSTICE LEAGUE won’t likely be ready for release until summer 2015, which could put it up right against Marvel’s AVENGERS 2, which has Joss Whedon returning to helm.