During a recent interview with The Playlist, Ben Affleck revealed that he no longer plans to participate in IP films after playing Batman for the DC Extended Universe franchise.
Affleck spoke about this topic while discussing the box office performance of his film The Last Duel. During the conversation, he also brought up the difficulties of doing non-IP projects. IP, or intellectual property, is often in reference to branded or licensed productions, including film franchises, remakes, and superheroes movies.
Affleck first entered IP films in 2003’s Daredevil and later Batman in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. After that, however, the actor disclosed that he’s stepping away from IP movies because he just doesn’t like it anymore.
He said, “Once that happened with The Last Duel, I thought, ‘Well, that’s probably the last theatrical release I’ll have.’ Because I don’t want to do IP movies, where you have this sort of built-in audience. That’s something I was interested in and liked, and I just don’t like anymore.”
Affleck added that although he enjoys watching other people portray those characters, it’s not for him anymore, and he wants to create projects that people will see wherever they’re released.
The 49-year-old stated, “I like other people who do it. And if you are going to do it, you should love it. And I love something different. So, I want to do that. Really, what’s important to me is that people see it. I mean, this is in a limited theatrical release, and that’s great. I know that 90% of people are going to see it on Amazon, and I want them to see it. I want them to see the movie. That’s more important to me.”
The Last Duel is out now.