The exact moment Ben Affleck realised cinema had changed forever: “Well, there you go”
Nowadays, it’s relatively common knowledge among cinephiles that playing Batman in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the Justice League team-up movie broke something within Ben Affleck. The veteran star found himself in a creatively unfulfilling space, making films he didn’t care about while suffering from personal problems that took him to some very dark places.
In fact, when Affleck actually entertained the idea of returning as Batman for a third time in a film he would also write and direct, a close friend told him in no uncertain terms that it was a bad idea. At this point, his issues with addiction had resurfaced in a big way, and this confidante stressed, “I showed somebody The Batman script. They said, ‘I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again’.”
So, Affleck made some significant changes in both his personal and professional lives, seeking treatment in a rehab programme and resolving only to make movies he was passionate about. The first two films Affleck made after Justice League were Triple Frontier and The Last Thing He Wanted, which both debuted on Netflix. Then, he took on The Way Back, his most personal project to date, which cast him as an alcoholic high school basketball coach. This was his first theatrically released drama aimed at adults since 2016’s Live By Night, but unfortunately, it was released only a week before the pandemic forced cinemas worldwide to close their doors.
Naturally, this meant The Way Back wasn’t a box office hit, although Affleck had an inkling before the pandemic that it would be a hard sell in a modern marketplace so geared toward streaming. “I knew this movie about grief and a child dying and alcoholism and recovery is just not going to get adults in the seats,” he told Entertainment Weekly in 2022.
A turning point for Ben Affleck
However, the actor-director did think his next film, The Last Duel, had a chance of putting a lot of butts in seats, despite releasing in October 2021 with the pandemic still a significant factor in people’s lives. After all, this was a big-budget Ridley Scott historical epic that reunited Affleck with his best bud Matt Damon, and also starred Adam Driver and Jodie Comer, both movie stars on the rise.
Instead of overcoming the odds, though, The Last Duel sank at the box office, making only $30million against a budget of $100million. After only 45 days, it was removed from cinemas and moved to streaming, where something interesting happened: it suddenly became a huge hit, becoming the second most-watched film on all streaming platforms, and hitting number one on iTunes.
Affleck had a suspicion that cinema had changed forever around The Way Back’s release, but The Last Duel’s strange tale confirmed it for him. “I’ve had bad movies that didn’t work, and I didn’t blink,” Affleck mused, “I know why people didn’t go—because they weren’t good.”
However, he knew that his 2021 feature was different. “I liked what we did,” he insisted, “I like what we had to say. I’m really proud of it. So, I was really confused. And then to see that it did well on streaming, I thought, ‘Well, there you go. That’s where the audience is’.”
For a man raised on going to the movies, who then made a thriving career out of making and starring in theatrically released films, this realisation was disheartening. However, Affleck is nothing if not a realist, and he simply had to accept that the rise of prestige TV, such as Narcos: Mexico, Succession, Mare of Easttown, and streamers making their own movies for their platforms had fundamentally changed how audiences watched films.
“If I had to bet, a drama like Argo would not be made theatrically now,” Affleck suggested, referring to his excellent ‘Best Picture’ winner from 2012. “That wasn’t that long ago. It would be a limited series”.
According to him, the future of cinema isn’t going to get any better for mid-budget movies or films aimed squarely at adults, either. “I think movies in theatres are going to become more expensive, event-ised. They’re mostly going to be for younger people, and mostly about ‘Hey, I’m so into the Marvel Universe, I can’t wait to see what happens next.’ And there’ll be 40 movies a year theatrically, probably, all IP, sequels, animated.”
So, in essence, a most dispiriting outlook that seems to have been quite a prescient note, seeing what the landscape of entertainment is like right now. More Justice Leagues, less The Last Duels. Oh dear.
