Affleck Set For Legal Thriller

Ben Affleck and 20th Century Fox are reportedly closing a deal for the actor to star in a film adaptation of Witness for the Prosecution.  But more importantly, the deal also has Affleck directing.

The story follows a man on trial for the murder of a wealthy widow who left her fortune to him. The suspect’s wife is initially unable to testify against her husband, but is soon called as a witness for the prosecution because she was married to another man when she wed the defendant. The story takes a few key twists from there.

Affleck, Jennifer Todd, Matt Damon and the Agatha Christie estate will produce this take while Christopher Keyser will write the script. The story was previously adapted for the screen in 1957 by Billy Wilder in a movie that starred Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton and scored six Oscar nominations.

Affleck is a good director with a good eye for pace and subtlety, so this could be a time killer for the near future to keep an eye out for.