Accepting the role of Batman in Warner Bros. Superman/Batman has apparently cost Ben Affleck his opportunity to direct the big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s sprawling and influential post-apocalypse novel The Stand about the struggles of a group of survivors of a particularly nasty viral plague.  The big screen version of The Stand, which features some of King’s more colorful creations including Trashcan Man, Mother Abigail and the demonic Randall Flagg, took shape in early 2011 (see "King's 'The Stand' Heads to the Big Screen") and Affleck was tapped to direct in October of the same year (see "Stephen King Movie Update").
 
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Cooper, who directed Jeff Bridges in an Oscar-winning performance in Crazy Heart, will take over for Affleck on The Stand.  It appears that Warner Bros. and CBS Films only have the rights to The Stand for a limited amount time, which precludes waiting for Affleck to complete his acting commitments to Gone Girl and Superman/Batman.  The producers might also fear that the current vogue for post-apocalyptic sagas might be long gone by the time their version of The Stand gets made.
 
The announcement that Affleck would play Batman created a backlash from disgruntled fans who somehow blame Affleck for the leaden 2003 Daredevil movie directed by Mark Steven Johnson (see "Petition to Dump Affleck").  The backlash against Affleck has created some blowback of its own as various fan favorite luminaries like Joss Whedon have stepped up to defend Affleck’s casting, while others have pointed out similar outbursts of Internet fan outrage that accompanied the announcement that Heath Ledger would play The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight and we all know how that turned out.