After proving his directing chops with Gone Baby Gone and The Town, Ben Affleck is focusing all of his effort towards his new found success. Earlier this year, we reported his intention to direct Argo, a thriller produced by George Clooney‘s company and tells the story of “CIA’s attempt to rescue six U.S. diplomats trapped in their embassy after Iranians took it over in 1979. The operatives disguised the six diplomats as a movie crew scouting locations for a fictional film called Argo.”
Deadline confirms he will direct and star in the film based on Joshuah Bearman‘s Wired magazine article titled “How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran.” It sounds like a fascinating story that seems somewhat meta to actually be turned into a feature. One wonders if it will have a somewhat playful tone, or if Affleck will play it serious.
With this news comes the revelation that Ben Affleck will have to drop out the role of Tom Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann‘s The Great Gatsby 3D, one that he was attached to earlier this month. This adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s classic will star Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, and Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway. We also reported earlier in this morning that Isla Fisher is in talks to play Myrtle, the “wife of a gas-station owner who is cheating with Buchanan.” There is a rumor Luhrmann is looking to Australian actors for roles, but what about Bradley Cooper‘s interest in the role? I think he’d be a great fit, but it doesn’t look probable.
The Great Gatsby and Argo both start production this summer/fall and expect them to hit theaters in 2012.
What do you think about Affleck dropping The Great Gatsby for Argo?