We've been hearing an awful lot of talk about Ben Affleck's upcoming standalone Batman film, but very little of it has been official. We do know that Ben Affleck will direct and star in the film, as well as co-writing the screenplay with Geoff Johns, and that Joe Manganiello is set to appear as Deathstroke, but other than that, we don't have too much concrete information. According to Ben Affleck, the film, which is going by the working title of THE BATMAN at the moment, isn't even official yet as they're "still trying to figure it out, you know, get the script and budget and all that stuff." However, if Joe Manganiello is to be believed, we're not too far off from the start of production.
While chatting with Entertainment Tonight, the actor revealed that he's getting ready to start filming on THE BATMAN in the spring of 2017. That's certainly a little sooner than I would have guessed but if it's true, I'd imagine we'll be hearing something official before too long. Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes had previously said that the standalone BATMAN film was "a year-and-a-half out" but didn't specify at the time whether that meant a year-and-a-half until the release or the start of production. If production really does kick off next spring, the likely release date could land sometime in the fall of 2018 or perhaps early 2019. As it happens, Warner Bros. already has October 5, 2018 slated for an as-yet-unnamed DC movie.
Meanwhile, we'll see both Ben Affleck's Batman and Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke in JUSTICE LEAGUE on November 17, 2017.