From 'Bunker Hill' To Capitol Hill? Ben Affleck's Next Directorial Project Could Be Good For Politics

Frank DiGiacomo

March 18, 2013 at 7:27 PM

Don't be surprised if the whole Ben Affleck for Senator? media frenzy gets revived in a few years. I just read Deadline's report that Warner Bros. has closed a deal for Nathaniel Philbrick's historical tale, Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution, which will be published in April, and it sure sounds like a great project for a filmmaker who's toyed with the idea of public office.
Ben Affleck Running For Senate?
You may remember that Affleck's name came up last December as a potential replacement for Massachusetts Senator John Kerry's seat when President Obama appointed Kerry Secretary of State. Affleck, who was out promoting Argo for awards season didn't exactly deny the speculation at first. When asked about his potential candidacy by Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation, his reply was, “One never knows.”

But then, on Christmas Eve, Affleck wrote on his Facebook page: “I love Massachusetts and our political process, but I am not running for office," although he added that he would continue to be active with the Eastern Congo Initiative, a charity he founded to promote peaceful development.

Who knows if Massachusetts will even need a candidate if — and when — the movie adaptation of Bunker Hill hits cineplexes, but it certainly has the trappings of a Lincoln-style movie with one exception: Affleck, unlike Steven Spielberg, has got the juice to seal the deal on a Best Picture win and, after he was snubbed by the Academy for Argo, will probably be a shoo-in for future Best Director nominations.

About Bunker Hill: Ben Affleck's New Film Project
Here's how Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. describes Philbrick's story:

Affleck, who until Argo had directed movies in the Boston backdrop where he grew up, is going home again as Bunker Hill is hailed as the battle that lit the fuse for the American Revolution in 1775.
The unease between Bostonians and British troops turned violent after the Boston Tea Party, when violent sieges erupted in Lexington and Concord and a British blockade led to outright war in the Battle of Bunker Hill, a bloody clash that united the colonies and started the war for independence. The story is told from a group of participants, including a 33-year-old physician named Joseph Warren, who becomes a leader of the Patriot cause; Paul Revere, George Washington, British General Thomas Gage, and others.

From Bunker Hill to Capitol Hill? With Affleck, it's not out of the realm.

[Deadline]

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