Ben Affleck recently was offered the Warner Bros. crime flick “Tales Of The Gangster Squad,” but a “yes” wasn’t immediately forthcoming. Now we know why. The actor/director is teaming with his brother Casey to rewrite the Yankees wife swap pic “The Trade.”
The project was first announced as a starring vehicle for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon last winter. 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.
Shortly after the news surfaced, Damon said a script for the film “didn’t exist” but that’s not necessarily true. It was written by Dave Mandel was and ranked #35 on the 2009 Black list. In addition, screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien (“Oceans 13,” “Rounders”) have been clocking that story for years and collecting information so they could eventually end up writing the film. But Damon, someone who generally wants a solid script in hand before signing on to anything — Doug Liman playfully called him a “script whore” recently — most likely didn’t like the draft and wants to see something different. Enter Ben and Casey.
Of course, it doesn’t need to be mentioned that Affleck and Damon have been fast friends since childhood, and both broke through in Hollywood in a huge way thanks to “Good Will Hunting,” which they both wrote and starred in.
As for who will direct, that remains a bit of an open question with Affleck saying, “I don’t know how it will come together — acting, directing, who will do it, but Casey and I decided to write it,” he said. “It’s one of those things where we don’t jump in and go, ‘I’m going to do this, you’re going to do this.’ Let’s write it. Let’s get it to a point. Dave Mandel did a good draft. Casey and I are going to fool with it and get it to a place we want to get it to. Once the script is ready, then it’s, ‘Who’s doing what, what’s the time frame, Matt, me, Casey, directing?’ “
But Ben Affleck was said to have shown some interest in directing the film since last spring, and if he feels strongly about the finished script, certainly Warner Bros. will be eager to please the man who landed them a big fall hit and possible Oscar contender in “The Town.”