By Hoai-Tran Bui/Dec. 10, 2020 7:30 am EST
Deadline reports that Affleck is set to star in the Clooney-directed coming-of-age drama The Tender Bar, based on J.R. Moehringer’s memoir about growing up in Long Island looking for father figures among the patrons at his uncle’s bar. Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov are set to produce through their Smokehouse Pictures banner, alongside Ted Hope. William Monahan is writing the script.
It’s not yet known whether Clooney will also appear in the film, but it’s a possible, given the star’s tendency to star in his past films.
Unfortunately, the reviews for Clooney’s The Midnight Sky have been decidedly mixed, but the filmmaker has had more hits than misses with his directorial career. Meanwhile, Affleck has more than proven himself an adept actor outside of films he’s directed, especially in movies like David Fincher’s Gone Girl and The Way Back, in which the actor gives a tender and achingly vulnerable performance as a recovering alcoholic — a role that offered more than a few parallels to his own personal struggles. I wonder if The Tender Bar may be a little too close to home for Affleck as well, considering its setting, but I trust that Clooney can get another great performance from him.
