Casey Affleck, former star and producer of Boston Strong, has left the project after his deal fell through. Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox has acquired the rights to the spec script about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, and Safe House director Daniel Espinosa is in talks to lead the production.
The script, by The Fighter screenwriters Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy, chronicles the manhunt for the bombers, as well as the city’s reaction in the immediate aftermath of the event. Espinosa’s first challenge will be faithfully recreating the period when the events took place, which was so long ago that most people are unable to remember the details of the event. (We expect the camera to linger on a bystander capturing the terror on an iPhone 4s).
The loss of Beantown specialist Affleck will probably be quite a blow to the production. But at least it will afford Casey more time to concentrate on other films that take place in Boston, like that Boston Strangler movie that will definitely require a whole lot of dropped Rs.