News hit fans like a batarang to the gut last week: after much hemming and hawing, Ben Affleck decided to bow out of helming “The Batman” despite “confirming” just recently that he would indeed sit in the director’s chair. Fans were up in arms, and even those that didn’t love “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” thought Affleck stole the show as the Dark Knight.

Continue reading 5 Reasons Why Ben Affleck Wisely Bailed On Directing ‘The Batman’ at The Playlist.

It’s hard to believe “Live By Night” could’ve gone wrong. Ben Affleck has proven he could make top-shelf blockbuster entertainment with “Gone Baby Gone,” “The Town,” and “Argo,” and getting together a cast including Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Messina, Zoe Saldana and Chris Cooper to adapt a book by Dennis Lehane seemed like it couldn’t lose.

Continue reading Warner Bros. Will Take $75 Million Loss On Ben Affleck’s Gangster Misfire ‘Live By Night’ at The Playlist.

Much like its protagonists, “Hidden Figures” is the little movie that could, and appropriately on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend the movie has retained a hold on the top of the box office.

Wait, what? That’s right, while studios are eager to get their estimates out on Sundays, when the final figures were looked at last weekend, “Hidden Figures” edged out “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” but there should be no mistakes this time around as the movie has firm hold in the number one slot with $20.4 million.

Continue reading ‘Hidden Figures’ Calculates Top-Spot Placement As String Of New Films Flop [Box Office] at The Playlist.

Prediction based on nominations [Feb. 5]

NOMINEES
1. “La La Land”
2. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
3. “Arrival”
4. “Hail, Caesar!”
5. “Passengers”

PREVIOUS CONTENDERS (for historical context)
“Florence Foster Jenkins”
“The Handmaiden”
“Jackie”
“Live by Night”
“Passengers”
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
“Rules Don’t Apply”
“Silence”

Gregory Ellwood’s Current Oscar Predictions:
Best Picture
Director
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Original Screenplay
Adapted Screenplay
Editing
Cinematography 
Production Design
Animated Feature Film
Foreign Language Film
Documentary Feature
Original Score
Original Song
Costume Design
Makeup and Hairstyling
Visual Effects
Sound Mixing
Sound Editing

Continue reading 2017 Best Production Design Oscars Predictions at The Playlist.

The Disney/Lucasfilm stratagem is easy: release a “Star Wars” movie every year and watch the money roll in. And while the stand-alone film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” wasn’t as much of a gangbusters flashpoint as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was — it was never going to be of course; it wasn’t the first ‘Star Wars’ film in 33 years to feature the original cast — it’s still done remarkably well for itself (don’t be fooled by any of the conservative nitwits who think their #DumpRogueOne campaign made the slightest dent at all).

Continue reading ‘Rogue One’ Goes Intergalactic During Christmas Weekend While ‘Assassin’s Creed’ & ‘Passengers’ Struggle [Box Office] at The Playlist.

Ben Affleck’s volatile career has gone something like this: an early Academy Award winner for Best Original Screenplay for “Good Will Hunting,” followed by a rough ride both inside and outside the industry during the JLo years, and then a major comeback as a writer/director. The first-rate “Gone Baby Gone” instantly accrued goodwill, and it paved the way for “Argo,” which won Best Picture at the Oscars in 2013.

Continue reading Gangster Squad Drama ‘Live By Night’ Is A Major Misfire For Director Ben Affleck [Review] at The Playlist.

While it doesn’t look like Ben Affleck‘s “Live By Night” will do much in the awards race, the actor/director’s ambitions for the movie are fairly low key. Speaking in New York City this week, the man behind the Dennis Lehane adaptation revealed that he hopes to simply entertain.

“I wanted to pay homage to those movies, not only in the 30s and 40s, but the 60s and 70s as well — one of those crowd pleasing, big, blockbuster movies — something with big costumes, and a lot of extras, and great sets, that transported you to another time, another era, another feeling,” Affleck said (via The Pavlovic Today).

Continue reading Ben Affleck Is Ready To ‘Live By Night’ In New Photos From The Gangster Blockbuster at The Playlist.

With AFI FEST almost over, Warner Bros. screened “Live By Night” Wednesday night independently of the prestige event for members of the press (primarily the BFCA).  No, ‘Live’ was officially not sneaking at AFI as rumored weeks earlier (amazingly there is no sneak this year). Happily, writer, director and star Ben Affleck was on hand alongside producer Jennifer Todd (also producing this year’s Oscar telecast, more on that in a minute) editor William Goldenberg and co-stars Chris Messina and Sienna Miller.

Continue reading Ben Affleck Says ‘Live By Night’ “Feels So Current I Wish I Could Dial It Back” at The Playlist.

“As soon as I read this book, I wanted to make the movie,” Ben Affleck recently told EW about “Live By Night,” his adaptation of the novel by Dennis Lehane. “I love the gritty characters and the great dialogue and this role. At the center of it is his journey, his internal struggle, and how he defines himself.”

READ MORE: Ben Affleck Shows Off Gangster Style In New Look At ‘Live By Night’

The man he’s talking about is Joe Coughlin, the son of Boston Police Superintendent who has not followed his father into a life of law and order.

Continue reading Ben Affleck Is An Outlaw In New Trailer For ‘Live By Night’ at The Playlist.

In a sense, we’ve already seen Ben Affleck go gangster this fall in the dumb but fun (but also overly complicated) “The Accountant.” But don’t forget, he’s also gunning for the Oscars with “Live By Night,” and a new image has arrived.

READ MORE: ‘The Accountant’ Starring Ben Affleck Has All The Excitement Of An IRS Audit [Review]

Featuring a big ensemble including Zoe Saldana, Sienna Miller, Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson and Chris Cooper, and based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, the story revolves around Joe Coughlin (Affleck), the son of a cop who finds himself slipping into a life of organized crime. 

Continue reading Ben Affleck Shows Off Gangster Style In New Look At ‘Live By Night’ at The Playlist.

Well that took long enough. After weeks of silence, Warner Bros. finally announced that Ben Affleck’s “Live By Night” is set for an Oscar qualifying run beginning Christmas Day in New York and Los Angeles. The dramatic thriller’s wide release is still scheduled for Jan. 13 as WB follows the same release strategy that resulted in tremendous box office and six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, for Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” just two years ago.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: Ben Affleck’s ‘Live By Night’ Finally Enters The Oscar Race at The Playlist.

As expected, movie fans in New York and Los Angeles are getting a slew of cinematic presents for Christmas.  Sure, there are juggernauts such as “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Passengers” and “Assassin’s Creed” looking to rake up blockbuster grosses, but it’s the limited releases living off the awards season publicity game that will be hoping to make an impression with Academy and guild members.  

Continue reading ’20th Century Women’ Set For Limited Release On Christmas Day, Is ‘Live By Night’ Next? at The Playlist.

Now that the triumvirate of early fall film festivals has come to an end, we can finally sit back and look at the race for Best Picture at the 2017 Academy Awards with a clear perspective. It may be somewhat surprising, but the biggest story isn’t Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land.” Granted, the movie musical is the undisputed and current frontrunner to win it all in February, but we have tons of time to talk about the feel-good movie musical ad nauseam.

Continue reading Contender Countdown: Before ‘La La Land’ Let’s Talk About ‘Sully’ For Best Picture at The Playlist.

For better and mostly worse, we’ve spent much of this year with Ben Affleck doing a pretty good Batman, in two very not good movies: “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” and “Suicide Squad.” However, he’ll be spending the rest of the year reminding audiences that his talents go beyond the cowl. This fall he’ll be calculating thrills in “The Accountant,” and after that, he heads into the awards season with “Live By Night.” The film, originally slated to open in fall in 2017, was moved up by Warner Bros.

Continue reading Ben Affleck Slides Into The Underworld In First Trailer For ‘Live By Night’ With Zoe Saldana, Sienna Miller, Elle Fanning, More at The Playlist.

Earlier this year, Warner Bros. made a very interesting move on their release calendar, sliding Ben Affleck‘s Prohibition-era drama “Live By Night” up from a previously planned October 20, 2017 release date to January 13, 2017. The new slot was more or less where “American Sniper” did gangbusters numbers for the studio a couple years back, and many couldn’t help but notice that the new date was in spitting distance of the awards season.

Continue reading Elle Fanning Says Ben Affleck’s ‘Live By Night’ Will Arrive In December at The Playlist.

Let’s be honest, this summer movie season has been kind of a bummer. “Captain America: Civil War” got things off to a pretty good start, but since then, the big blockbusters — “X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Alice Through The Looking Glass,” “Warcraft,” “Independence Day” — have mostly been painful to sit through. And even the better wide releases, like “The Nice Guys,” “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” and “The Neon Demon,” have mostly done poorly with audiences.

Continue reading 50 Films We Hope To See At The 2016 Fall Festivals at The Playlist.

The awards season this year is already looking to be another fiercely contested battleground, with plenty of promising pictures already on deck, including Denis Villeneuve‘s “Arrival,” Ang Lee‘s “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” Kenneth Lonergan‘s “Manchester By The Sea,” Garth Davis‘ “Lion,” Damien Chazelle‘s “La La Land,” Morten Tyldum‘s “Passengers,” and David Frankel‘s “Collateral Beauty.” But could Warner Bros.

Continue reading Warner Bros. Moves Up Ben Affleck’s ‘Live By Night,’ Will It Be An Oscar Contender? at The Playlist.

WB Sets Ben Affleck's 'Live By Night' With Oscar Ready 2017 Release Date

Continue reading WB Sets Ben Affleck’s ‘Live By Night’ With Oscar Ready 2017 Release Date at The Playlist.

Ben Affleck’s ‘Live By Night’ Gets Bumped To 2017, ‘The Accountant’ Lands Better 2016 Date

Continue reading Ben Affleck’s ‘Live By Night’ Gets Bumped To 2017, ‘The Accountant’ Lands Better 2016 Date at The Playlist.

Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning & Sienna Miller Are The First Additions To Ben Affleck's Crime Epic 'Live By Night'

Continue reading Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning & Sienna Miller Are The First Additions To Ben Affleck’s Crime Epic ‘Live By Night’ at The Playlist.

Ben Affleck's 'Live By Night' Moves To October, 2016; Diablo Cody's Meryl Streep Project Coming Summer 2015

Continue reading Ben Affleck’s ‘Live By Night’ Moves To October, 2016; Diablo Cody’s Meryl Streep Project Coming Summer 2015 at The Playlist.

Continue reading Ben Affleck’s ‘Live By Night’ Set For Xmas 2015 Release, Filming To Start September 2014 at The Playlist.

Continue reading Novelist Dennis Lehane Tapped To Pen Remake Of ‘A Prophet’ at The Playlist.

Ben Affleck Signed For Multiple Films As Batman & Will Help "Create" The Character; 'Live By Night' To Shoot In 2014

Continue reading Ben Affleck Signed For Multiple Films As Batman & Will Help “Create” The Character; ‘Live By Night’ To Shoot In 2014 at The Playlist.

Continue reading Lindsay Lohan Reportedly Circling Role In Ben Affleck’s ‘Live By Night’ at The Playlist.