Even as Ben Affleck is heading into production on his next film, “Argo,” everyone still wants a piece of “The Town” director. He’s been eyeing a handful of potential projects, with “American Bullshit” crossing his desk earlier this year, the sci-fi project “Replay” (which he has since moved on from), and he’s still got the New York Yankee wife swap tale “The Trade” somewhere in development. Just a couple of months ago he signed on to direct the long gestating American remake of “Tell No One,” but now a new project looks to be in line as followup to “Argo,” and it’s certainly the most tentpole-esque piece of material Affleck has been associated with (at least in the director’s chair).
THR reports that Affleck is looking to direct and star in the thriller “Line Of Sight.” The plot “centers on an elite commando squad transporting cargo while dealing with a global threat.” Sounds pretty dry, and here’s the twist: the movie will be told from the perspective of the protagonist, just like a first-shooter game, which sounds unbelievably dreadful. Here’s the thing with first person shooter games: really fun to play, really, really boring to watch. We’re getting nauseous just thinking about dealing with an entire movie where the camera will be whipping around with just that limited perspective. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a shock then that the latest draft of the script was penned by “Halo: Reach” writer Peter O’Brien. Can’t this just be an action/thriller/whatever without literally turning it into a video game?
Anyway, we’re not too worried. Affleck will begin shooting “Argo” next month with Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin and Scoot McNairy and it’s likely he’ll be circling/offered even more projects between now and when he’s ready to make his next film. So he’s got plenty of time and will certainly have plenty of options before choosing his next gig. But seriously Ben? Your career doesn’t need the help of the the generally brainless productions Joel Silver is involved in to keep moving.
