After rave reviews in the latest blockbuster, Gone Girl, and soon to star as Batman in Batman v Superman, Hollywood star Ben Affleck is in the running for the lead role in the film The Accountant, which centres on an accountant who moonlights as an assassin.
According to early drafts of the script, the film features an accountant called in to audit a Silicon Valley robotics company when a woman working in accounts notices anomalies. After identifying serious accounting irregularities, the number cruncher receives death threats and is forced on the run with the bookkeeper. He turns out to have experience as a hit man which proves useful as the pair encounter numerous perils, including Afghan warlords and US special forces veterans.
Discussions about the casting for the thriller have been ongoing since 2011, when the script was included on the influential Black List of most anticipated screenplays.
Affleck, currently starring in the hit film Gone Girl, is the latest name to be linked with the film, which was originally set to showcase Will Smith, with either Mel Gibson or the Coen brothers as directors. Hollywood soundings suggest Gavin O’Connor is now going to fill the director’s seat.
The role is calculated to prove a sharp contrast to Affleck’s next engagement, playing Batman in the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
