Director Matt Reeves is ditching the script Ben Affleck co-wrote for the upcoming The Batman film.
The actor had been set to direct the film while also reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman, but in January he announced that he would no longer be helming the flick.
Reeves came on board to directors February and has now revealed that he has scrapped the earlier script that Affleck, Chris Terrio, and Geoff Johns had worked on.
“No, it’s a new story,” he said when asked if he would be working with the original script during a chat on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast. “It’s just starting again. I’m excited about it. I think it’s going to be really cool.”
Matt Reeves has previously confirmed that Affleck will remain as the Dark Knight. In the original script, Joe Manganiello was to play Slade Wilson /Deathstroke, but it’s unclear if that will remain the case now, as Matt Reeves indicated during his interview that casting is still underway.
While plot details for The Batman remain under wraps, the War for the Planet of the Apes director did recently tease what fans may be able to expect from the DC Comics movie adaptation.
“I think the thing that I’m excited about is the idea of trying to tell a very point-of-view-driven, emotional story from that perspective in the same way that I tried to do with (Planet of the Apes character) Caesar. I think there’s a way to tell his story that could be very emotional,” he shared to Digital Spy.
Affleck’s Batman will next be seen in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which is slated to hit theaters in November.
A release date for The Batman is yet to be confirmed but filming is expected to start in early 2018.
