First Look: Ben Affleck’s Long-Awaited Gangster Drama, ‘Live By Night’
Matt Brennan
With the caption “First day. First shot,” Ben Affleck posted the first glimpse of his upcoming Prohibition-era gangster drama “Live By Night,” based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (“Mystic River”). Affleck will produce with Jennifer Todd via their Pearl Street banner,
with Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran also
overseeing. Originally planned for a prime October 2016 release date, The Playlist reported in August that distributor Warner Bros. has pushed the film back to 2017.
Starring Affleck, Elle Fanning, Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana, Chris Messina, and Chris Cooper, “Live By Night” is not the director’s first time working from source material by Lehane, whose novel “Gone, Baby, Gone” Affleck adapted for his debut feature behind the camera. Affleck, whose last film as director was 2012’s Best Picture winner, “Argo,” has been angling to make “Live By Night” since 2013, only to see Batman swoop in and hijack his schedule—twice.
Not only will he star in next year’s “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” he’s also writing and directing the solo “Batman” reboot and is scheduled to appear as the caped crusader in “Suicide Squad” (2016), “The Justice League: Part One” (2017), and “The Justice League: Part Two” (2019). Moving into next October’s “Live By Night” slot? Director Gavin O’Connor’s assassin movie “The Accountant,” with Affleck, Anna Kendrick, and J.K. Simmons. He also participated with buddy Matt Damon on a new (and controversial) season of HBO’s “Project Greenlight,” which comes to an end November 1; the resulting film “The Leisure Class” airs on November 2.
It’s a wonder Affleck even has time to sleep, much less direct a movie.
