After two daring and exciting entries in the crime drama genre, Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone, The Town) is an actor-cum-director on the rise. Eager to capitalize on his ascent, Warner Bros. has offered Affleck the director’s seat on Tales from Gangster Squad, the script of which is based on a series of articles by Los Angeles Times’ journalist Paul Lieberman but adapted by cop-cum-screenwriter, Will Beall (Castle).
Vulture dishes the story centers on “the Los Angeles Police Department’s off-the-books squad of mercenary cops who tried to chase infamous gangster Micky Cohen out of town in the forties.”
Cohen was an “associate” of Al Capone, who moved out west and set up an empire of his own in Los Angeles, after being sent there by Murder, Inc. kingpin Meyer Lansky to keep tabs on Bugsy Siegel. He worked with Bugsy on a gambling operation, and set up a series of shops (nightclubs, casinos, gas stations, even an ice-cream parlor) to launder the dirty money. He was ultimately brought down for tax evasion in 1950.
The 1940’s setting screams noir, and I’d like to see what Affleck’s scenic eye could do with back-in-the-day L.A. So, between this and his present prowess for capturing captivating criminality, I hope he takes it.
It might make up for the attempt at noir in which he starred, Hollywoodland.
In other news: Affleck’s also been offered directing duties on 24 producer, Howard Gordon’s pilot for Showtime’s Homeland. The project may star Affleck’s long-time friend and collaborator, Matt Damon, and is said to focus on espionage with a sleeper cell and ex-CIA operative in the mix.
Would you see Affleck’s Tales from Gangster Squad?