Like it or not, Ben Affleck is the new Batman. Thankfully, discord over the casting has ebbed considerably in the months following the announcement, and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is garnering quite a bit of hype. Affleck has expressed his gratitude for a chance to play the Dark Knight numerous times, though it seems the actor was asking for a bit more than the studio would allow.
Most would think that there are some perks that come with playing the Batman, and it would make sense that the Batsuit is one of them. After all, once the film is finished, why not take the suit home instead of letting it sit in a warehouse somewhere?
According to Affleck himself, taking the suit home wasn't an option. The actor said in an interview on LIVE with Kelly and Michael that he asked the studio if he could take the Batsuit home once production wrapped. Apparently, that suit comes with quite the price tag: the studio told Affleck that he could keep the suit for a cool $100,000.
If that number sounds a little high, it should: the Batsuit costs $100,000 to make, and that's only one of the suits. That's right, a production this size would have multiples of everything for stunts, or in the event one of the suits broke down. There's no way to tell just how many suits there are, but it's almost guaranteed that there's at least three of them (plus less-expensive stunt suits on top of that) just for Batman v. Superman.
It may sound expensive, but the cost of the suits is just a fraction of what the film will cost to make. The recent shoot in Michigan alone had a budget of $131 million dollars, and that was just one location. If other shoots cost that much, Batman v. Superman could be one of the most expensive productions ever.
For comparison, Man of Steel boasted a price tag of $225 million, which puts it in the top 10 highest budget films to date. The Dark Knight Rises, the third film in Nolan's Batman trilogy, sits just above that at $230 million. At this rate, it looks like Batman v. Superman will easily topple both of those numbers.
If you're going to play a billionaire superhero with an incredibly high-tech, gadget-laden suit, it only makes sense that the price tag would match.
Photo: Elen Nivrae (cropped)
