Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are reuniting in their first real picture partnership since Good Will Hunting. The Boston guys are taking on the story of New England’s most notorious gangster, Whitey Bulger. Warner Bros will make the film, Affleck will direct, co-star and produce with Damon, who’ll play Bulger. They’ll produce under their Pearl Street Films banner. Boardwalk Empire creator and writer Terence Winter is penning the script. Casey Affleck, who also starred in Good Will Hunting and Gone Baby Gone, will play a supporting role as well.
“Matt and I have been looking for something to do together for some time,” Affleck said. “We’ve heard about Whitey Bulger since we were kids, and we are excited by the prospect of putting it on screen.” Ironically, Damon played a crooked cop in The Departed, the Martin Scorsese-directed film that took a page from the Bulger story. He is the notorious South Boston crime boss who fled in 1994 and remained a fugitive for 16 years — 12 of them on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. He was arrested in June in Santa Monica. The story will cover Bulger’s youth to his incarceration on Alcatraz, through his rise to become a mob boss while secretly serving as an FBI informant for decades. Pearl Street’s Chay Carter will be executive producer.
“When Ben mentioned this to Jeff and Sarah, they jumped immediately,” said Greg Silverman, Warner Bros Pictures president of production. “It’s a perfect fit of story with the ideal artists to bring that story to the screen, and it’s so great to be heading back to Boston with Ben and Matt.”
Affleck is currently shooting Argo for Warner Bros and is in the mix for a number of films at the studio. Warner Bros wants him for its adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand, though it is unclear whether Affleck will make that film. Damon just starred in the Steven Soderbergh-directed Contagion for Warner Bros. Casey Affleck’s about to open in Tower Heist. He, Ben Affleck and Damon are repped by WME. Winter’s repped by CAA. Casey Affleck’s managed by Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
“Matt and I have been looking for something to do together for some time,” Affleck said. “We’ve heard about Whitey Bulger since we were kids, and we are excited by the prospect of putting it on screen.” Ironically, Damon played a crooked cop in The Departed, the Martin Scorsese-directed film that took a page from the Bulger story. He is the notorious South Boston crime boss who fled in 1994 and remained a fugitive for 16 years — 12 of them on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. He was arrested in June in Santa Monica. The story will cover Bulger’s youth to his incarceration on Alcatraz, through his rise to become a mob boss while secretly serving as an FBI informant for decades. Pearl Street’s Chay Carter will be executive producer.
“When Ben mentioned this to Jeff and Sarah, they jumped immediately,” said Greg Silverman, Warner Bros Pictures president of production. “It’s a perfect fit of story with the ideal artists to bring that story to the screen, and it’s so great to be heading back to Boston with Ben and Matt.”
Affleck is currently shooting Argo for Warner Bros and is in the mix for a number of films at the studio. Warner Bros wants him for its adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand, though it is unclear whether Affleck will make that film. Damon just starred in the Steven Soderbergh-directed Contagion for Warner Bros. Casey Affleck’s about to open in Tower Heist. He, Ben Affleck and Damon are repped by WME. Winter’s repped by CAA. Casey Affleck’s managed by Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
