Are Matt Damon and Ben Affleck trading wives with Dave Mandel?

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"Give me your wife, Green Zone." "My name in the film isn't Green Zone, you dummy, and besides, you haven't looked like that in 20 years." "Whatever, Green Zone.  Hand her over."

Credit: Universal Pictures

This sounds awesome.

According to Mike Fleming, Ben Affleck is now attached to direct and possibly star in "The Trade" for Warner Bros., and there is a chance that the film will reunite the stars of "Good Will Hunting" in major starring roles.

The script first hit the radar for a lot of people this past December when it made the 2009 Black List, an informal survey of well-liked in-development projects.  At the time, I noticed only because I like Dave Mandel, a "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" writer who was the man who put pen to paper here.

It's a true story about New York Yankees Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich, who swapped wives at the start of the 1973 season.  You add in the extra "wow" of Affleck playing Peterson and Damon playing Kekich, and that sounds like Warner Bros. has pretty much a sure thing on their hands.

Mandel is a very smart and funny guy, and this is easily going to be the biggest thing he's been associated with so far.  I love "Seinfeld" and "Curb," but those are someone else's playground.  Here, it sounds like Affleck's going to work with Mandel to polish the script, so hopefully he'll stay on for the whole thing.  Especially on projects like this, where there's a real voice to the story you're telling, you want some consistency of vision.  It's better that way.

As Fleming points out, the best part of the entire thing is that Affleck and Damon are both Boston fans, hardcore, and the idea of them spending a whole film decked out in Yankee colors is flat-out hilarious.

I guess I know what I'm reading later tonight.  More on this one if it comes together.

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