Will Ben Affleck make his next movie in Savannah?

Ben Affleck was apparently wandering around downtown Savannah on Monday (yesterday) scouting locations for an upcoming film.

A word of caution: the film business is pretty fickle. Sometimes, projects evaporate overnight and production plans shift in a heartbeat. I have no idea if Affleck is considering other cities or how much of the film might be shot in Savannah if things move ahead.

I don’t have any inside knowledge about much of anything, but it’s worth noting that there has been considerable press recently about Affleck’s newest project Live by Night, which he is apparently producing, directing, writing, and starring in. (I assume that “Live” would be pronounced like “give” but the title seems more provocative if pronounced like “hive”.)

From Deadline Hollywood’s Ben Affleck And Warner Bros Set Next Film: Dennis Lehane Crime Novel ‘Live By Night’:

Warner Bros Pictures chief Jeff Robinov didn’t waste any time moving to make Ben Affleck‘s next picture after Argo snagged the Best Picture Oscar for the studio in February. I’ve learned that pre-production starts today [May 7] on Affleck’s adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel Live By Night with an eye to an August-September start date. So far only Affleck is cast. He also directs and produces as well as writes and stars in. […] This is Affleck’s second adaptation of a Lehane novel: Ben in 2007 made his directorial debut with the gripping Gone Baby Gone based on the mystery series written by the author.

I have not seen Gone Baby Gone nor have I read Lehane, so I don’t have much to add here. According to his IMDB page, Lehane has done some interesting film and television work in the past, including writing the novel Mystic River and writing several episodes of “The Wire”.

In something of an upset, Lahane’s Live by Night just won the prestigious 2013 Edgar Award for best novel. From the Boston Globe:

“Live by Night” is the second in a trilogy about a Boston family of Irish lawmen. It tells the tale of Joe Coughlin’s rise from thief to gangster in the Prohibition Era.

Ben Affleck is no stranger to Savannah. About a decade ago, he bought a home on Hampton Island and was reported as recently as last October to still be spending time there.

My only local Affleck sighting was at the North Beach Grill one nice afternoon many years ago, where he dined with Jennifer Lopez. Click here for a great 2010 shot of Affleck with Chef Jerome at the Old School Diner down the road in Townsend.