Monday
08Dec2008
Ben Affleck Heads to 'Arizona'
Monday, December 8, 2008 at 5:58PM
We all come across stories in our lives and think, "You
know, that would make a great movie." And as anyone who has lived in Arizona for
the past 30 years would tell you, the story of
Don Bolles
would make for a great movie.
It has an unfortunate end, or maybe it's a fortunate beginning of a story of the greater good, but the story of Don Bolles is one more people need to hear. And now...Ben Affleck is going to tell it.
I would've been outraged 15 months ago, but Affleck did a really good job directing Gone Baby Gone. I have a hunch that if it were his third or fourth film, Gone Baby Gone could have been a classic. He didn't miss by much as it was. So, I'm hopeful that Affleck can bring the right ingredients to Arizona. Variety reports he will direct the film for Miramax, from a Sheldon Turner script based on facts that are in the public domain.
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in Arizona, Ben Affleck, Bio-pic | Print Article | Email Article | 4 Comments | Share Article
Reader Comments (4)
Are they going to film any of it at The Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix? That is where Don Bolles was killed.
Let's hope the Film Commison is all over this flick and brings production Phoenix, we could use the cash about now. Though, I'm not all that hopeful, we lost 3:10 to Yuma and Hamlet 2 (set in Tucson) to friggin' New Mexico and Bad Santa (set in Phoenix) was shot in Torrance, Ca. Hollywood did use Mesa as a stand in for the Middle East with The Kingdom and, currently, we have Middle Men in town (about a start up porn website in the 90's) but my guess is, even with that one, Phoenix is probably standing in for somewhere else. Maybe, given it's historical significance, Ben will be motivated to bring it to AZ and his producers will oblige him (provided we have all of our tax reductions in place). Fingers crossed!
going by that picture they should cast billy bob thornton as bolles
Affleck is not the punchline that he once was, and though his transformation is not yet complete, he is maturing into a pretty solid filmmaker. This could be good even if he decides to act in it, although I must admit I like him behind the camera much better than I do in front of it these days, even when he's playing George Reeves, who he was quite good as.
Anyone else see Affleck pop-up in the movie August with Josh Hartnett? It was a nice pot-shot at Ben during the Gigli-Bennifer-Rehab days, but he has come a long way since then.
Seems like both Affleck and Hartnett have had quite a hangover since working with Michael Bay. Who's next? Megan Fox?