Ben Affleck is now attached write, direct and possibly star in “The Trade,” the true story about two “New York Yankees pitchers who caused a national scandal by swapping wives in the sexually-free 1970s.” The story is based on real life players Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich who in 1973 revealed that they had been swapping wives, and fell for each other’s partners. Peterson and Kekich’s ex-wife are still together today, while the other couple has since split up. Affleck is eyeing the role of Peterson with Matt Damon playing Kekich.
The project has apparently been kicking around for awhile, but been stalled for various reasons. However, the script by Dave Mandel (“Seinfeld,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) is apparently quite good, landed on last year’s Black List and is said to have a Hal Ashby sort of vibe.
Though Affleck was originally attached just to star, with Richard Linklater expressing interest in directing, the actor now wants to work with Mandel on a rewrite with an eye at directing the film himself. And though Warner Brothers have yet to assign producers on the project, we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the first film that goes ahead under Damon and Affleck’s new production banner at the studio.
So when could this shoot? We could see it being fast-tracked for this summer as both actors will be available before Damon begins work on Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” and Affleck begins promo for “The Town” which hits theaters on September 10th. Otherwise, we don’t see it going in front of cameras until spring 2011 at the earliest.
