Ben Affleck Is Your New Batman!

From the moment the Man of Steel sequel was announced as Batman vs. Superman, speculation began as to who would be next to don the legendary cowl. It seemed like every actor of a certain age was rumored to be Warner Bros.’ next “favorite.” Then it was rumored that Zack Snyder wanted Batman to be older, so a whole new batch of actors were rumored.

While we here at Grizzly Bomb put Ryan Gosling on our Justice League casting couch, it appears as if Snyder had his eye on another man… Ben Affleck!

Ben Affleck

While seemingly every other actor in Hollywood was named in the Batman casting rumors, Affleck’s name was not one that was at the forefront by any means. However, the speculation has finally ended and we now know that Affleck with be going head to head with Henry Cavill’s Superman in the Man of Steel sequel.

No doubt there will be plenty of pissing and moaning over this choice, because frankly, we’ve seen Affleck as a superhero before and it wasn’t pleasant. Daredevil anyone? Nothing good came from that film, except maybe some hot Jennifer Garner/Ben Affleck chemistry but even that couldn’t save the sinking ship.

Daredevil Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner

We can take solace in the fact that even Affleck himself didn’t like Daredevil. Plus, Hollywoodland wasn’t awful. Wasn’t great by any means but Affleck as the actor (George Reeves, of course) who played Superman wasn’t near as bad as the Daredevil fiasco.

So how do you like Ben Affleck as Batman? Can he be a convincing Caped Crusader? Do you buy him as the billionaire Bruce Wayne? Thankfully we have plenty of time to speculate on how great or awful the move is as Batman vs. Superman is not due in theaters until Summer of 2015.

Parkland: New Trailer & New Take on JFK Assassination

We all know the chaotic day of November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was shot in his motorcade. The new film Parkland looks to add, instead of retread, the knowledge most already have on the events, and by the looks of the trailer, it does just that. The film recounts the memorable day from multiple perspectives, including the hospital that the President was rushed to, for which the title is taken from.

The film is the directorial debut of Peter Landesman and stars an ensemble cast of familiar faces including Zac Efron (High School Musical), Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Billy Bob Thornton (Armageddon), Tom Welling (Smallville), and Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook). The films look to be a unique take on an infamous day that could bring about a new perspective. Check out the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgPjt_BRLvY

Parkland weaves multiple stories into its narrative in a Crash-esque way, but centered around the assassination of JFK. The plot includes the hospital the president was rushed to, the man behind the Zapruder film , the FBI agents responsible for tracking down Lee Harvey Oswald, the brother of Oswald, and the Presidents security detail trying to piece their stories together. All in all, the trailer didn’t quite sell me because of the somewhat overly dramatic tone it carries as it leads up to the moment we know is coming, but as it puts it, “The story you know/the people you don’t”, The cast is pretty solid, so hopefully they don’t go to waste, and the film is capable of bypassing the common flaw in these ensemble pics, which is to balance the pacing of each story. Oh yeah, and it can’t hurt that Tom Hanks is a producer.

parkland

The film is due out September 20th, two days before the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination.