Crack At The Bat: Casey Affleck To Direct Biopic Of Addict Ballplayer Josh Hamilton

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by Benjamin Wright
June 22, 2012 10:38 AM
2 Comments

While we’re all eagerly anticipating the next Ben Affleck acting-directing effort in this fall’s “Argo,” there was a time where the idea of Affleck helming a film would have been conceived as a joke. His career kicked off on an upswing with breakout hits like “Good Will Hunting” and “Chasing Amy,” all before going all Hollywood with fare like “Daredevil,” “Pearl Harbor,” and most famously, the Jennifer Lopez co-starring disaster “Gigli." Thankfully, the talented Affleck resurrected his career as an accomplished multi-hyphenate with 2007’s “Gone Baby Gone,” then really announced his return with 2010’s crime thriller “The Town,” and now it looks as if his younger brother is following in his footsteps.

Thankfully, Casey Affleck doesn’t have to crawl from the shambles of a superstar relationship or poor career choices to hop into the director’s chair, but he does share his big brother’s penchant for intriguing adult fare. Deadline is reporting that the younger Affleck and Thunder Road Pictures are shopping around a project for Affleck to write and direct that follows the true story of American League slugger Josh Hamilton, who rose from a potentially crippling addiction to crack to become one of the most feared sluggers in Major League Baseball – with a life story ripe for film. Hamilton entrusted the rights to his story to producer Basil Iwanyk, who will be heading out to pitch the film with Affleck around Hollywood. It’s a powerful rise-and-fall story about a man who quite literally went from being one of baseball’s most promising players to cleaning toilets, then back to being a baseball great.

The project, which will also see Hamilton producing with his wife Katie, is most likely a ways off considering the film is only just being pitched. But this isn't Casey's first time chasing a baseball flick. You might remember he's attached to write the New York Yankee's wife-swapping pic "The Trade" with brother Ben as a vehicle for their pal, Matt Damon, but that one ran into legal issues and seems to be on hold at the moment. And while this will be Casey's first feature, he also made the watchable but divisive Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary “I’m Still Here,” which chronicled Phoenix’s year-long crazy spell. Affleck’s got talent, and we’ll be interested to see what he brings to Hamilton’s story.

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Mike | June 23, 2012 5:39 PMReply

Considering Ben Affleck's breakout film was one that he won an Oscar for writing, I don't think a lot of people thought his prospects for directing laughable, he did have to win people back over to support his acting because of the poor choices & tabloid over exposure, but that's a different story.
bunty | June 22, 2012 10:45 AMReply

"Basil Iwanyk"? Haha.