We’ve already had Ben Affleck considering a new acting job this week with con drama Focus, but with his latest stint behind the camera, Argo, set to land, he’s also looking ahead to another filmmaking assignment and has entered talks to adapt Dennis Lehane’s new novel Live By Night.

It’s not that surprising to find Affleck eyeing a Lehane book – after all, he launched his directorial career with a great take on the writer’s Gone Baby Gone.

Warner Bros. optioned Live By Night in April when it was still in galleys, and Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to produce and, possibly, star.

The plot finds Lehane taking some of the characters from The Given Day and tracking them into the Prohibition era. Our main focus is Joe Coughlin, a police captain’s son who finds himself caught up in organised crime as part of a rum smuggling organization that transports booze from Cuba to Boston via Florida.

Affleck will work on the script, call the shots, produce and, according to Deadline’s report, star in the film. Whether his presence attracts DiCaprio to a role remains to be seen, but given Affleck’s success so far, his name has to carry some weight. We'd also guess that this may end up in front of other developing projects in his bag, including The Stand and his Whitey Bulger project with Matt Damon.

Argo will arrive here on November 7.