Ben Affleck To Direct THE BIG GOODBYE a Film About The Making of CHINATOWN

Ben Affleck has jumped on board a new film project that he will direct titled The Big Goodbye, which is based on the book The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood. The story will be about the making of the classic 1974 Roman Polanski and Jack Nicholson noir film Chinatown.

Here’s the description of the story from the book:

In Sam Wasson’s telling, it becomes the defining story of the most colorful characters in the most colorful period of Hollywood history. Here is Jack Nicholson at the height of his powers, as compelling a movie star as there has ever been, embarking on his great, doomed love affair with Anjelica Huston. Here is director Roman Polanski, both predator and prey, haunted by the savage death of his wife, returning to Los Angeles, the scene of the crime, where the seeds of his own self-destruction are quickly planted. Here is the fevered dealmaking of “The Kid” Robert Evans, the most consummate of producers. Here too is Robert Towne’s fabled script, widely considered the greatest original screenplay ever written. Wasson for the first time peels off layers of myth to provide the true account of its creation.

Yep, this is a movie that I know I’m going to love. I love digging into Hollywood history and I enjoy the behind-the-scenes stories of making movies. The story behind the making of a modern American masterpiece is certainly a fascinating one.

The film is set up at Paramount Pictures, which is the studio that was originally behind the film. Affleck will not only direct the film, but he will write the script as well. Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels will produce the picture along with Affleck.

This going to be a great film project for Affleck to take on and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with it and who he ends up casting as the main players in the story. What are your thoughts on this movie?

Source: Variety