Matt Damon and John Krasinski May Be Working Together on The Film THE KING OF OIL

Matt Damon is in talks to join a new film project called The King of Oil, which is set up through John Krasinski's Sunday Night Productions and Universal Pictures. Krasinski is currently a producer on the film, but there's a chance that he might eventually jump on as the film's director. 

The movie is based on the biography of fugitive billionaire commodities trader, Marc Rich, called The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich. If cast, Damon will take on the role of Rich. For those of you not familiar with this guy and his story, here's a little run down from Deadline:

The public will remember Rich from that controversial pardon by President Bill Clinton on his last day in office. Rich was a child of the Holocaust who became the wealthiest and most powerful oil and commodities trader of the century until his 1983 indictments on 65 criminal counts including tax evasion. The book detailed Rich’s illegal dealings with Iran during the hostage crisis and his quiet cooperation with the Cuban, Israeli, and U.S. governments. The Glencore founder never faced a judge or jury: Rich was in Switzerland when he was indicted on those criminal counts and lived his life abroad until he died at age 78 in 2013.

The description from author Daniel Ammann's book offers some additional details:

Billionaire oil trader Marc Rich for the first time talks at length about his private life (including his expensive divorce from wife Denise); his invention of the spot oil market, which made his fortune and changed the world economy; his lucrative and unpublicized dealings with Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran, Fidel Castro's Cuba, war-ravaged Angola, and apartheid South Africa; his quiet cooperation with the Israeli and U.S. governments (even after he was indicted for tax fraud by Rudy Guiliani) and near-comical attempts by U.S. officials to kidnap him illegally.

This sounds like it's going to make for an interesting movie. The script will be written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, who both worked together on Race and The Aftermath.

This won't be the first time that Damon and Krasinski have worked together. They both worked on Manchester By The Sea and also wrote and starred in the Gus Van Sant-directed fracking drama Promised Land.

Damon is next set to star alongside Christian Bale in James Mangold's Ford Vs. Ferrari. Krasinski will next be seen in Amazon's Jack Ryan series.