Ben Affleck’s intense workload—acting, directing, writing, crime-fighting—continues to show no signs of abating. In a surprising move first reported by Deadline, the Oscar-winning filmmaker is in final talks to line up an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution as his next directing gig, with creative partners Jennifer Todd and Matt Damon attached to produce. The adaptation will be a Hollywood remake as well, since Christie’s play was first translated to the screen by Billy Wilder back in 1957.
Affleck recently wrapped Live by Night, the star-studded adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel, which is expected to compete this awards season, and has signed on to direct DC’s upcoming Batman reboot. Both projects at least ostensibly appear to be in line with the moody crime dramas that first established Affleck as a filmmaker, going back to Gone Baby Gone and The Town. But there’s no real precedent in his filmography for a twisty Christie adaptation—one that, according to reports, he’s also expected to star in. To be sure, casting and release date announcements will help to shape expectations—from match-made-in-heaven to disaster-in-the-making—on exactly what this new project will end up becoming.
