Ben Affleck to star in and direct WWII drama Ghost Army for Universal

After spending a number of years attached to THE BATMAN before he finally departed, it seems that Ben Affleck is ready to step behind the camera once again. The actor/director is slated to star in and direct GHOST ARMY for Universal Pictures, a World War II drama based upon the book "The Ghost Army of World War II: How One Top-Secret Unit Deceived the Enemy with Inflatable Tanks, Sound Effects, and Other Audacious Fakery" by Rick Beyer and Elizabeth Sayles.

GHOST ARMY will tell the story of a squadron of American soldiers who were chosen for their creativity and ingenuity and tasked with tricking the Nazis into believing that the U.S. had more troops than it actually did. Using truckloads of inflatable tanks, a massive collection of sound-effects records, and more than a few tricks up their sleeves, the squad created a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe. It's not yet known just when production will kick off, but Variety says that Ben Affleck is expected to rework the screenplay which was written by True Detective's Nic Pizzolatto.

A synopsis of "The Ghost Army of World War II" via Amazon:

In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of young GIs—including such future luminaries as Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, Arthur Singer, Victor Dowd, Art Kane, and Jack Masey—landed in France to conduct a secret mission. Armed with truckloads of inflatable tanks, a massive collection of sound-effects records, and more than a few tricks up their sleeves, their job was to create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with the German Army as their audience.

From Normandy to the Rhine, the 1,100 men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known as the Ghost Army, conjured up phony convoys, phantom divisions, and make-believe headquarters to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American units. Between missions the artists filled their duffel bags with drawings and paintings and dragged them across Europe. Every move they made was top secret and their story was hushed up for decades after the war's end. The Ghost Army of World War II is the first publication to tell the full story of how a traveling road show of artists wielding imagination, paint, and bravado saved thousands of American lives.

Ben Affleck recently starred in Netflix's TRIPLE FRONTIER, but will next be seen in Gavin O'Connor's TORRANCE on October 18, 2019.