Ben Affleck’s future playing Batman on the big screen may be over — in part because the cost of insuring him may have gotten too steep, multiple industry insiders told TheWrap.
The actor, a recovering alcoholic who checked himself into rehab last week for the third time in the last two decades and the second time in just over a year, may have priced himself out of a pricey tentpole studio movie like Warner Bros.’ upcoming “The Batman.”
“More than likely the studio will replace him because the insurance costs are going to go through the roof,” a representative for a completion bond company told TheWrap.
“He would be bondable, but the deductible would be really high, probably the budget of the film,” the bond company insider added.
The bond company insider said insurers might only demand half of the film’s budget set aside in escrow as a deductible — which could still add up for Warner Bros. since the production budget on Affleck’s 2017 Batman appearance, “Justice League,” was around $300 million.
If a “Justice League” sequel moved forward at that price with Affleck attached, the insider said, the deductible could drive the budget up to $450 million — before marketing expenses.
Affleck would not be the first star to face issues getting bonded — a requirement of 99 percent of studio films, in which insurers provide monetary payouts in the event of unforeseen problems involving the director or top stars that result in the suspension or cancellation of production.
Robert Downey Jr. faced similar issues in the late ’90s and early 2000sdue to his past substance abuse and legal issues. Mark Burg, the producer of the 1998 Robert Altman indie “The Gingerbread Man,” told the L.A. Times that the insurance premium for Downey would have cost the production $1 million on a film with a budget of less than $30 million.
“I could not afford to hire Robert Downey Jr. if I had to pay that exorbitant premium, so I basically just gambled, took a shot,” Burg said, noting that he shot the film without insurance.
On Downey’s 2003 film, “Gothika,” producer Joel Silver held onto 40 percent of the actor’s salary as insurance, according to the N.Y. Times. And Mel Gibson paid Downey’s insurance bond himself so the future “Iron Man” star could appear in his 2003 film “The Singing Detective,” according to Entertainment Weekly.
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Wrap