Ben Affleck May Have Passed on Directing The Force Awakens
Now that he’s donned the cape and cowl of the Dark Knight of Gotham, and is now heavily involved with the DC Cinematic Universe, Ben Affleck is opening up about jobs he passed up to be Batman, and you might be surprised to hear he may have passed on The Force Awakens…
Slashfilm is reporting on a story (via Uproxx) regarding an interview that actor/director Ben Affleck did with Bill Simmons on his new HBO show, Any Given Wednesday.
During the interview, Simmons asks Affleck what he’d be doing if he hadn’t chosen to be the Bat, and his answer takes an odd turn. Here’s a video from TMZ, where Affleck kind of dances around the topic:
"“Well, it wouldn’t be polite to talk about the jobs you turn down, but I had a lot of offers. It’s like, forks in the road that are, like, legitimate different paths. Boy, my life’s going to be really different if I go this way, or do Batman, or I do this other…iconic thing.”"
Sounds to me like Affleck was at the very least in the running for the job to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And, before you raging DC and Marvel Fanboys/Fangirls out there start angrily typing in all caps about how he ruined Daredevil or Batman, just remember this, the man directed Gone Baby Gone, and Argo so he’s got the directing chops to helm a film the size and scope of Star Wars.
Uproxx does point out that at back when Disney acquired Lucasfilm, Affleck did make this comment about directing a Star Wars film:
"“I’m glad I don’t have that job. It’s a tough decision to make. I’d be too busy worrying about how the action figures would look for each character to direct the actual movie. I’d be like, ‘Oh, we’ll just reshoot the movie with the action figures.’”"
Next: Star Wars Rebels Celebration Europe Panel To Include Tiya Sircar & Sam Witwer
But that was years ago, now, and Affleck may want to put another directing notch in his belt, especially since Disney/Lucasfilm is looking for directors to helm Star Wars projects for all new standalone films. Personally, I could see Affleck directing a Boba Fett film, and it being absolutely spectacular. Make it happen Kathleen Kennedy, please?