Ben Affleck is enjoying the finest year of his career. The director of the award-winning "Argo" was recognized last night by the Critics Choice Award for Best Director and Best Picture and has a solid chance of winning the second Oscar in his career this February. However, the director does not seem intent on stopping to enjoy the success; he is already set for his next film.
According to MTV, Affleck will direct his next feature "Live By Night," an adaptation of a Dennis Lehane novel that takes place in Prohibition-era Boston. The film tells the story of a police captain's son who turns into an outlaw and becomes entangled with the local mob and police officers. The film features the return of Affleck to Boston where he set his first two features "Gone Baby Gone" and "The Town;" "Gone Baby Gone" was also based on a book by Lehane.
Leonardo DiCaprio is slated to produce the film, but it is not yet clear whether he will star in the film. Affleck has not mentioned whether he will act in his own film again either; he starred in "Argo" and "The Town."
In order to do the film, Affleck dropped out of "Focus," a film starring Kristen Stewart. During the interview Affleck explained that "I'm trying to meet this schedule in order to do [Live By Night], in order to meet the back end so that I can have it released at the right time, and I just hadn't gotten enough writing done and it became clear that if I took that job and was in Buenos Aires for three months, I was gonna miss the deadline."
He added that "I love Kristen, I was really excited to work with her, I think the movie's gonna be fabulous, and I'm sure they'll find a great guy for it."