Ben Affleck is heading back to the director’s chair with the historical drama ‘King Leopold’s Ghost’. He will also serve as a producer on the feature.
The film is said to be inspired by Adam Hochschild’s best-selling book about Leopold II of Belgium’s plunder in the Congo and the Congolese who defied him and fought back. The struggle sparked an unlikely alliance between a black American missionary, an English investigative journalist and an Irish spy, resulting in one of the first human rights movements in history.
‘Apocalypto’ co-scribe Farhad Safinia is attached to adapt the script. Affleck will produce via his Pearl Street Films banner, alongside Martin Scorsese who will produce via his Sikelia Productions banner. Harry and Gina Belafonte will also produce. Emma Koskoff-Tillinger is also producing for Sikelia.
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Affleck was last behind the camera as a director for ‘Live By Night’. He previously helmed ‘Gone Baby Gone’ and ‘Argo’. On the acting front, Affleck was last seen on Netflix feature ‘Triple Frontier’ alongside the likes of Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal and Garret Hedlund. He’ll next be seen in ‘Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’ ‘Finding the Way Back’ and ‘The Last Thing He Wanted’. His is currently filming ‘Deep Water’ with Ana De Armas and Tracy Letts.
Safinia co-wrote and co-produced ‘Apocalypto’ and created, executive produced and served as showrunner of the Golden Globe-nominated series ‘Boss,’ for which Kelsey Grammer was awarded the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama.
