Ben Affleck in talks to direct Argo, an adaptation of a 2007 Wired article, with George Clooney producing

Back in April 2007, Wired magazine ran an article written by Joshuah Bearman titled How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran. George Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov (THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS) jumped aboard the project almost immediately (just one month after publication) in a bid to get it into production quickly.

Well, ‘quickly’ didn’t exactly pan out, but Clooney and Heslov remained linked to the project nevertheless these past few years. Now, according to THR’s Heat Vision, Ben Affleck is entering negotiations to direct ARGO – a political thriller with “elements of wry humor.” Here’s Heat Vision with more on the intriguing concept:

“The story centers on how, during the occupation of the American embassy by Iranians in 1979, a rescue effort was mounted by the CIA and the Canadian government to extract six U.S. diplomats.

The CIA used a disguise expert and concocted a scenario that involved the six being a Hollywood crew scouting a movie titled Argo. Under those disguises, they were able to flee the country.”

Assuming all goes well with negotiations, ARGO will likely be Affleck’s follow-up to last year’s hit THE TOWN. If you’ll recall, he’d been circling a number of different films in hopes of directing – including the fantasy film REPLAY and the thriller AMERICAN BULLSHIT – though was never officially attached to any of them.