Ben Affleck to begin production on Live By Night this November

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

With the recent news that Ben Affleck would co-write and direct a solo Batman movie tentatively set for a 2018 release, Warner Bros has finally given a formal greenlight to his long gestating project LIVE BY NIGHT. Previously set for a release date of next year, Variety reports that the project is now a go for production to begin this November.

Affleck's film is already gathering a strong cast that already boasts Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning, and Affleck himself. LIVE BY NIGHT is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane whose GONE BABY GONE was Affleck's first directorial effort. Here's the synopsis.

By 1926, Prohibition in the United States had given rise to an endless network of underground distilleries, speakeasies, gangsters, and corrupt cops. Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent Boston police captain, defies his proper upbringing by climbing a ladder of organized crime that takes him from Boston to Ybor City, Florida, to Havana, Cuba, where he encounters a dangerous cast of characters who are all fighting for their piece of the American dream.

Affleck has proven himself to be a very talented filmmaker with THE TOWN and ARGO earning him the right to work on pretty much anything he wants. With his upcoming performance as Batman in BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, Affleck has become Warner Bros' golden child. This likely means the budgetary constraints on LIVE BY NIGHT will be non-existant and should make for quite the spectacle.

LIVE BY NIGHT is currently slated for a release date of October 10, 2016 but it remains to be seen if the production ramping up at the end of this year will force that to change.