Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Reunite for Gangster Whitey Bulger Biopic

Source: Deadline

by Ethan Anderton

Back in February of 2010, it was said that Ben Affleck was circling The Trade as a project that would reunite the now successful director with his Good Will Hunting collaborator Matt Damon as part of a new deal for the duo's revamped production company set up at Warner Bros. Since then the project hasn't moved forward at all, but Affleck and Damon might come together on a different project set up at Warner Bros. first. Deadline has word that the duo are looking to tell the story of New England gangster Whitey Bulger with Affleck directing the film and also co-starring and producing with Damon who'll play Bulger himself.

This would be the first feature film partnership since Good Will Hunting though the two have appeared in a handful of films together since then. Affleck says, "Matt and I have been looking for something to do together for some time. We’ve heard about Whitey Bulger since we were kids, and we are excited by the prospect of putting it on screen.” Having grown up in the heart of Boston, there aren't too many better people in the industry suited to tell the story of the South Boston crime boss who was on the run for 16 years, not to mention being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List for 12 of those years on the lam. The film will chronicle the gangster's life from his years as a kid to his imprisonment at the infamous Alcatraz prison, and of course his time serving as both a mob boss and a secret FBI informant for several decade.

Between The Town and Gone, Baby Gone, we know Affleck can handle crime drama very well and of course Damon already had his hand in some Boston crime in The Departed, so this should be a walk in the park for the old friends and collaborators. Oh, and if this reunion wasn't good enough, Casey Affleck is also said to be taking on a supporting role as well. And considering he fit right in with his brother and Damon in Good Will Hunting, not to mention delivering a breakthrough performance in the elder Affleck's directing debut with Gone, Baby, Gone, this film really should be something to behold whenever it hits theaters.