Ben Affleck has now officially announced that he will be stepping down as the director for the upcoming "Batman" stand-alone movie. The 44-year-old actor however assured fans that he is still going to be playing the lead role in the highly anticipated movie, but he will not be behind the camera anymore.

The actor explained in his recently released statement that he simply just needs to focus on playing the character that has a "special place in the hearts of millions." Affleck further revealed that he already has the blessing of Warner Bros. Pictures and that they are now actively looking for a new director to helm the upcoming new film. After having explained himself, Affleck assured fans that he and the studio are still committed on bringing the project to life for all of them.

Warner Bros. Pictures also released their own statement and explained that they fully support Affleck's decision and that they are behind him all the way. According to USA Today, the mutual decision might have already been agreed upon for a while now and that they just really didn't say anything about it until now.

Rumors about Affleck's departure as director for the project had been circulating in the past couple of months, following reports of script issues. This was further corroborated by Affleck himself during a recently press interview for his previously released film, "Live by Night."

Another report from The Hollywood Reporter claims that Affleck's decision may have something to do with the failure of the aforementioned movie, which only managed to rake in $18.9 million globally. The report claims that the poor performance of "Live by Night" may have caused him to rethink his plans for his other upcoming projects.

The upcoming "Batman" stand-alone movie, tentatively called "The Batman," will also be starring Joe Manganiello as the villain Deathstroke. The movie is expected to be released sometime in 2018, after the release of the DC superhero team-up film, "Justice League."

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