Ben Affleck will 'Live By Night' for his next directing gig

Ben Affleck directing Alan Arkin in 'Argo'

Credit: Warner Bros.

Oscar snubs aren't going to slow Ben Affleck down.

While his film "Argo" received multiple nominations this year, Affleck himself wasn't nominated in the directing category. However, he's already thinking about his next film.

It was previously reported that Affleck was in talks to helm an adaptation of 1920s Boston-set crime drama "Live By Night" Dennis Lehane ("Mystic River").

Lehane also who wrote "Gone Baby Gone," which was adapted by Affleck as his directorial debut 

Affleck confirmed with MTV that he’s currently readying "Live" as his next film. The move explains the reason why he had to drop out of starring in the upcoming conman movie "Focus" with Kristen Stewart. 

He explained, "Basically I’m doing a movie called 'Live By Night' and I’m trying to meet this schedule in order to do it, in order to meet the back end so that I can have it released at the right time, and I just hadn’t gotten enough writing done and it became clear that if I took that job ['Focus'] and was in Buenos Aires for three months, I was gonna miss the deadline.  I had to choose between getting the movie out when I want to or doing this one, so reluctantly I chose the [former]. But I love those guys, I love Kristen, I was really excited to work with her, I think the movie’s gonna be fabulous, and I’m sure they’ll find a great guy for it.”

Affleck will soon be seen in Terrence Malick's "To the Wonder," and is developing a biopic of Boston mobster Whitey Bulger with his pal Matt Damon. Then there's the long-gestating adaptation of Stephen King's "The Stand" that Affleck is attached to direct. 

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