Zack Snyderis currently in post-production on the highly anticipated DC Comics superhero team-up movieJustice League. Though that film’s release date is a little less than a year away, its follow-up film, which had previously been set for a mid-2019 release, is now being delayed so thatBen Affleck’s standaloneBatmanfilm can nab a spot on the schedule. Now, Snyder has a window available for another project outside of the Warner Bros. DCEU.
THRreports that Snyder will not move on to directJustice League: Part Twonext as was originally intended, at least not right away. His next film will be the long-in-development war thrillerThe Last Photograph. We last reported on this filmback in 2011, but Snyder has been shopping it since the mid-2000s following his success on300. The rights on that deal have lapsed, butGianni Nunnari’s Hollywood Gang is currently negotiating a new one.
The story of the relatively small-scale picture “centers on a war correspondent in Afghanistan who is the only one to survive an attack on a group of Americans. When a special ops soldier in search of a family member shows up, the two team up, with the correspondent hoping to score the story of his life.” Snyder dreamed up the story while colleagueKurt Johnstadwrote the script; expect that to be dusted off and freshened up. ThoughChristian BaleandSean Pennwere previously attached to star, the project is currently without a cast. The plan is to repackageThe Last Photographand shop it to Warner Bros. whereZack and Deborah Snyderhave a first-look deal under their production banner, Cruel and Unusual Films. The plan is to shoot in late 2017.
Earlier this year, leading up to the release ofBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Snyder mentionedThe Last Photographwhen answering a question about non-superhero movies he was currently working on:
“We haveThe Last Photographthat I’ve been working on for a long time. It’s a small, sort of weird project about a war photographer in Afghanistan. I have been working onThe Fountainhead. I’ve always felt likeThe Fountainheadwas such a thesis on the creative process and what it is to create something. Warner Bros. owns [Ayn Rand’s] script and I’ve just been working on that a little bit.”
So whileThe Last Photographwill be Snyder’s next project once he wraps onJustice Leagueand finishes the promotional run-up to its August 11, 2025 release, we’re not sure when either the standaloneBatmanmovie will debut, nor whenJustice League: Part Twowill follow suit. My money’s onThe BatmantakingJustice League: Part Two’s June 15, 2025 slot, but time will tell. Keep an eye out here for more news as it becomes available.
