Just weeks after making headlines as the new Batman, Ben Affleck has signed on to direct “The Middle Man” for FOX.
FOX announced on Friday (September 13) that it has given a pilot order to “The Middle Man” from writer Glenn Gordon Caron (“Medium,” “Moonlighting”) with Affleck helming the high profile pilot and serving as executive producer.
The 1960s-set drama is right in Affleck’s Beantown wheelhouse, focusing on the relationship between FBI agent Rudy MacAteer and Irish-American gangster Mickey Flood.
FOX notes that the idea for the project began gestating while Affleck was working in Boston on “The Town,” when he and Pearl Street Films’ Chay Carter met writers Michael Yebba and Emilio Mauro.
The current “Middle Man” script, which will begin production in early 2014, was written by Caron from a story he developed with Yebba and Mauro. The project was taken out on spec with FOX winning rights to make the pilot.
Still fresh off of his DGA and Golden Globe-winning working on “Argo,” this will be Affleck’s first time directing for TV, though his small screen writing credits include “Push, Nevada.” As an actor, Affleck will next be seen in “Runner, Runner,” while you possibly may have heard a bit about his casting in that “Batman vs. Superman” thing from Zack Snyder.
Interestingly, while Affleck wasn’t even nominated for the Best Director Oscar this year, the category was won by Ang Lee, who immediately signed on to direct the “Tyrant” pilot for FOX’s corporate sibling FX before dropping out.