Because of uncomfortable parallels with the Madeline McCann case, you still can’t see Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, Gone, Baby, Gone in this country yet. But trust us when we say that the crime drama is a real treat, and that Affleck is a fine director.
And now it seems that he may be warming up for another go in the director’s chair, for he has picked up the rights, along with his producing partner Sean Bailey, to another gritty crime novel, The Blade Itself.
At the moment, there’s no concrete news that Affleck will direct the movie, which is currently being adapted by Aaron Stockard, but we’d put good money on it.
The novel, named by Esquire magazine as one of the five best of 2007, concerns two childhood friends from Chicago who grew up committing petty crimes together. They drift apart and, when they are reunited years later, one has to decide how far he will go in order to stop the secrets of his past from coming out.
All good, tense, movie-worthy stuff. Affleck is currently filming State Of Play, with Russell Crowe, and so this might not become his next project for a while. But it all sounds promising, nonetheless.
Miramax have picked up the rights, while Affleck and Bailey will produce via new production company, Ideology.