Ben Affleck to Direct Movie About Making of Chinatown

Ben Affleck has found his next project as a director. After winning the Best Picture Oscar for Argo in 2013, he followed it up with Live by Night in 2016, and he’s now gearing up for another Hollywood-themed film. According to a new report, Affleck has signed on to direct The Big Goodbye for Paramount Pictures based on the non-fiction book by Sam Wasson that details the making of the 1974 film Chinatown. Directed by Roman Polanski and starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, the film will no doubt attract A-list talent eager to play the part of those real life figures. Deadline notes it’s unclear if Affleck will also act in the film in addition to directing.

Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels reportedly snagged the rights to the book and brought it to Paramount. Both he and Affleck will produce the film, with Affleck also scripting the adaptation. The description for Wasson’s book paints a tantalizing picture for what the movie’s logline will no doubt be, reading: “Chinatown is the Holy Grail of 1970s cinema. Its twist ending is the most notorious in American film and its closing line of dialogue the most haunting. Here for the first time is the incredible true story of its making.”

In addition to appearances by Polanski, Nicholson, and Dunaway, the project will no doubt see actors take on the role of other towering figures from Hollywood history. Among those is a figure that still towers over Paramount Pictures, ‘The Kid’ himself, Robert Evans. As head of the studio he brought in a new era of success for Paramount, shepherding the development of projects that have become icons in cinema like Rosemary’s Baby, True Grit, The Italian Job, and The Godfather. He was also a pretty notable larger than life figure in Hollywood though, so actors will likely be lining up to take the part.

Other real life figures that will likely be major figures are screenwriter Robert Towne, who won the only Academy Award that the film was awarded despite eleven nominations; plus actress Anjelica Huston, who began dating Nicholason around the time of production on the film.

Affleck can next be seen in the Deep Water, scheduled to arrive later this year, alongside The Last Duel, which he also co-wrote. The actor will also appear in the World of DC once again for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the extended director’s cut of the 2017 superhero team-up. Though it’s unlikely that new footage will be shot on the project, fans will still be able to get another film with Affleck as the Dark Knight.