In the works for what feels like forever and seemingly knocked around to make room for Ben Affleck's Bat-duties, Live by Night is finally heading to theaters. The Affleck-directed film is just another way Warner Bros. can keep the actor under their umbrella, a relationship earned through his awards season success with The Town and Argo. And to show their further appreciation they've set Live by Night for an October 20th 2017 release date.
That date is close to the timeframe for Affleck's previous directorial efforts, so it makes sense for the studio to try and replicate their success. The film is based on the Dennis Lehane novel about Joe Coughlin, the son of a Boston police captain, who ascends the criminal ranks while journeying from Tampa to Cuba. Affleck is pulling triple duty on this one as he wrote the screenplay and stars as Coughlin. Zoe Saldana, Sienna Miller, Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson , Scott Eastwood, Chris Messina, and Chris Cooper co-star. Filming is already completed but post-production could take a while since Affleck will be busy in the world of superheroes for a while.
Warner Bros. has also dated Fist Fight, the Ice Cube comedy in which he squares off against Charlie Day, for February 17th 2017. Annabelle 2 opens May 19th of the same year, followed by an Untitled Event Film for August 11th. What could that possibly be? Hmmmm....
