Ben Affleck’s Live By Night may arrive sooner than we thought

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

I want you to give me all the names of the people who can successfully be Batman AND release a movie they directed, wrote and starred in all in one year. Got the list? Great because there can only be one name on there and that name is Ben Affleck.

During an interview with WWD, Elle Fanning—who is starring in Affleck’s next directorial effort, LIVE BY NIGHT—let slip that the new movie will be coming out later this year, before the official January release date. Here’s what she said:

That’s already done. That’s coming out in December, at the end of this year. That was incredible because [Ben] wrote it, he directed it and he’s in it. I had scenes with the director, you know? It’s intimidating.

The movie wasn’t originally supposed to come until late next year, but was bumped up to January, leading many to speculate that the movie may play early to qualify for awards season. Fanning’s comments, though not a firm confirmation from the studio, suggest that to be true.

The drama, based off a Denis Lehane novel, takes place in the 1920’s and 1930’s and surrounds a man named Joe Coughlin (Affleck) who is the son of a famous Boston police captain, but becomes a bootlegger and gangster and begins to dabble in all sorts of illegal activites.

Other Denis Lehane adaptations include MYSTIC RIVER, SHUTTER ISLAND and GONE BABY GONE, the latter being Affleck’s stunning directorial debut. Now Affleck is returning to the writer’s material, and hopefully it will be as great as his other directorial efforts. His latest, ARGO, won Best Picture at the Oscars, while him not getting nominated for Best Director for the flick caused a bit of a stir.

The movie technically releases on the same day as another Oscar contender, HIDDEN FIGURES, so the possibility both will get an early release to contend for the major awards seems like a given at this point, especially considering Affleck’s past success in the awards circuit. But the biggest winners are the fans, who will get to see what will probably be Affleck’s next triumph all the earlier. Oh, what a glorious time to be alive.

LIVE BY NIGHT is set for a January 13, 2017 release date and will star Ben Affleck, Elle Fanning, Zoe Saldana, Sienna Miller, Brendan Gleeson and Chris Cooper.