Ben Affleck Returns To His Roots For Next Film

Looks like Ben Affleck is headed back to his Boston roots for his next directorial effort. Post Oscar win, Affleck is set to write, direct, and star in the adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s 2012 novel Live By Night.

We first heard rumblings that Affleck was first getting involved in Live By Night early last fall, but the news was made official this week. This is the second film that Affleck is set to write, direct and star in. It’s a big move to pull triple duty, but Affleck succeeded in doing this with The Town, and he’s proved with Gone, Baby, Gone that he knows Lehane’s source material very well.

As far as movement on the project, pre-production began yesterday. According to indieWIRE Live By Night is set during the Prohibition in Boston, and the central story is pegged on Joe Coughlin, the son of a cop, who just so happens to find himself slipping into organized crime. Coughlin finds himself working up the ladder of organized crime, and eventually lands in Cuba, where he encounters low lives, crooks and various women. The heart of the story is said to be a tale rooted in revenge and redemption. It sounds like a promising premise, and one that Affleck can work his way around.

For Affleck, this is the second Dennis Lehane novel he’s adapting. The first was his directorial debut Gone, Baby, Gone, which also took place in Boston. His Oscar-winning film Argo was the first film the director didn’t adapt himself. Before that, he made his sophomore effort The Town, which was also filmed in Boston and based off of a book by Chuck Hogan.

As for other projects, Affleck has also been circling an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Stand, as well as a remake of Tell No One and of course there’s the Whitey Bulger biopic as well.

Are you excited to see Ben Affleck return to Boston for his next film?