As reported by Variety, Ben Affleck is in talks to direct and star in a remake of Billy Wilder’s 1957 Agatha Christie adaptation Witness For The Prosecution. The original film was nominated for six Academy Awards, so this project could be a return to the prestige of Argo-era Affleck. You know, back before he was swallowed up by the Justice League movie machine and had to deal with resting a movie’s emotional climax on the realization that his character’s mom and another character’s mom had the same name.
The original Witness For The Prosecution is about a lawyer who is tasked with representing a man accused of murdering a widow who left him a bunch of money in her will, with Affleck most likely playing the lawyer. The remake is being written by Christopher Keyser (Tyrant, Party Of Five), with Affleck, Jennifer Todd, and Affleck’s best friend Matt Damon set to produce. Also, though the Variety story doesn’t have any specific details about how Affleck’s version might differ from the original, we hope he throws in a scene where someone works the phrase “witness for the prosecution” into a tortured catchphrase.
