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Ben Affleck to direct adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel ‘Live By Night’

Ben Affleck to direct adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel ‘Live By Night’

Screen Shot 2015-07-09 at 3.40.35 PM

As reported today by Variety, Ben Affleck will be directing Live By Night, a project he’s been meaning to work on for the past few years. But with his starring roles in Gone Girl and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it’s understandable that the actor/director hasn’t had too much time on his hands to work on anything else.

Now with Batman v Superman in post-production, his main focus will be this film, based on the Dennis Lehane crime novel set in the Prohibition era. Affleck, along with directing and producing, will also star in the film alongside Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning, and Sienna Miller.

Many of Lehane’s books have been turned into films (Mystic River, Shutter Island, and as Affleck already did with Gone Baby Gone), so it’s no surprise that Affleck has gone back to adapt the novelist’s work into another feature film that will hopefully be as successful as past adaptations. But unlike in Gone Baby Gone, Affleck will have the starring role. He is set to play Joe Coughlin, a cop’s son who strays from his expected path and enters into the world of organized crime in 1920s Boston.

With Warner Bros. giving the okay on the film, the project will begin filming in November and is set to be released October 7, 2016.  With Argo being his latest foray into directing and it winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 2013, there’s no doubt that all eyes will be on Affleck when the film hits theaters.

He is expected to work on this film before he does Justice League and his upcoming Batman solo film, which he will write and direct.

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