While the DC Extended Universe has had some trouble getting out of the gate, one of the things that most fans and critics alike have appreciated is Ben Affleck's new Batman. We know there's a new solo movie coming, and new we finally have an idea when we might see it. The CEO of Warner Bros. recently spoke about how successful the new caped crusader has been and dropped a hint as to when Affleck's new Batman movie will be coming, or at least when the project will get started.
The reboot of Batman with Ben Affleck was a big success. He's going to be EP on Justice League and that's helpful to that team. ... Ben announced a Batman movie [that] he's going to direct, star, write for - I think it's a year and a half out. So, the strategy worked.
So according to Jeff Bewkes, we're about 18 months away from Batman. However, the question is, are we a year and a half away from that movie hitting theaters, or is that date simply when the movie will go into production? After listening to the audio of Bewkes' conversation made available by ComicBook.com, we tend to think it's the latter. First off, a movie being released a year and a half from now would be hitting screens somewhere between the end of 2017 and early 2018, depending on how liberally we take that schedule. The problem is, that part of the schedule is already booked with DC movies. We've got Justice League hitting at the end of 2017, and The Flash solo film set for March of 2018, almost exactly 18 months from now. However, if the movie is going into production around the end of 2017, it could very likely be aiming for a release date of October 5, 2018, which is a date WB has already earmarked for a DCEU movie, but without a title to go along with it.
The schedule looks a little tight, but based on the fact that we've been seeing things like pre-production renderings of Deathstroke already, it would appear that the Batman movie is already getting ready, so once filming begins, they'll be able to hit the ground running.
As CEO, Jeff Bewkes has an eye on the full production schedule, not simply release dates, so it's not surprising if he's looking at how far out movies are based on that. The beginning of production is the point at which his company needs to really start spending money, which is something he'd be concerned with as CEO.
We'll see Batman again when Justice League hits theaters a year from this November. By then, Ben Affleck may already be working on his solo Batman movie.
