March 24, 2005

Ben Affleck To Make Directorial Debut With Gone, Baby, Gone

By Gil Kaufman (MTV.com)

It's been so long since the words "Ben Affleck" and "hit" have appeared in the same sentence that the actor has decided to take matters into his own hands.

Affleck, who won a screenwriting Oscar for co-writing 1997's Good Will Hunting, will write and direct a movie called Gone, Baby, Gone in his native Boston in the fall, according to the Boston Herald.

After a string of overhyped, underwhelming acting gigs in movies like Gigli and Jersey Girl, Affleck has tapped some Oscar-worthy source material for his directorial debut. The movie will be adapted from a novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, the author behind the 2003 Oscar nominee Mystic River.

The story centers on two blue collar Boston private detectives hired to find a missing 4-year-old girl. Though Affleck originally thought about playing the lead character, Patrick Kenzie - with his ex, Jennifer Lopez, eyed as partner/girlfriend, Angie Gennaro, according to the Herald - he is not expected to act in the film. No word yet on casting for the movie.