Ben Affleck/Matt Damon Project Competes Against Johnny Depp New Film
As Ben Affleck picked up the award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement this weekend from the Directors Guild of America, fellow actor Johnny Depp signed on to star in the crime boss film Black Mass - which could directly compete with Affleck's own future film.
Affleck and Matt Damon are scheduled to a make a movie about Irish American mobster Whitey Bulger but Depp agreed to play the criminal in a drama directed and scripted by Barry Levinson, based on the 2001 book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob.
The film is scheduled to start production in May, according to the Boston Herald, and could compete for box office numbers with the new project Affleck and Matt Damon are working on, which will be scripted by Boardwalk Empire writer Terence Winter with Damon playing Bulger and Affleck directing.
When asked about his next project, Affleck said proceedings were "in flux."
" 'Live by Night' I'm currently writing, so I'm working on that and I'm about halfway through," Ben told the Track. " 'Whitey' is going to be turned in by Terrence Winter very soon ... like this week. We'll evaluate both of those ... when both of those, you know, 'slow' writers finish their work. We'll evaluate."
"If there was a movie that me and Matt were meant to do together, this has gotta be the one," he said. "It's where my heart is."
Bulgar was arrested in Santa Monica in June 2011 after being on the run for 15 years, according to Guardian. At the time of his arrest he was wanted for 19 murders and had been on the FBI's most-wanted list for 16 years.
The reward for his capture was reportedly second in price only to that which was offered for information leading to the arrest of Osama bin Laden, the report added.
