Hit Flix tells us that director/actor Ben Affleck is set to direct Harlan Coben’s revered french novel Tell No One, presumably after he finishes work on Argo. Chris Terrio, who also penned the script for Argo, will adapt the story for the silver screen. The film was originally conceived in 2002 by Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci for Sony, but never took off due to countless logistical issues with the production. After Sony relinquished the rights to the film, Universal and Warner Brothers soon optioned the book and are now readily preparing the story for multiplexes across the world.
The story is threaded with French mentality and culture, so it makes sense that Luc Besson’s Euracorp Productions is attached to produce this feature. Considering Luc Besson himself is a highly prolific French director/producer, choosing him to oversee production is a smart move.
The film was successfully adapted to the screen back in 2006 in France by director Guillaume Canet and it was very well received. The story, which focuses on”an innocent doctor who is suspected of killing his wife only to discover that his wife may not be dead at all,” is a great project for Affleck and will likely add another strong directing credit to his resume (along with Gone Baby Gone and The Town)
Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will produce for Warner Brothers, who will be distributing domestically. Universal International is set to distribute overseas.
In other Ben Affleck news, Vulture is reporting that the director is using a similar directing technique, actually make that the same directing technique for his upcoming film Argo that Derek Cianfrance used on Blue Valentine. Cianfrance made stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams live with each other during the shooting of the film, to make things feel more authentic. Turns out, Affleck has a similar idea for Argo.
He will put the cast together in a house for two weeks before filming. The film is based on the true story about “a C.I.A. plan to rescue a group of diplomats from Tehran after the 1979 Iranian revolution by claiming that they were part of a Hollywood movie crew shooting a film in the country.” Apparently it’s a fantastic story and with the talented Affleck behind the camera, it will likely make for a great film. The only star attached is Alan Arkin but we’ll likely hear more about casting in the near future.
Both of these projects sound great and it looks like the actor turned director has really hit his stride. Perhaps he was meant to be behind the camera all along? Both Gone Baby Gone and The Town were well done films and I’m very eager to see what Affleck gives us with Tell No One and Argo.
