Ben Affleck Has Been Scouting Movie Locations in Massachusetts

Featureflash via Featureflash / Shutterstock.com” target=”_blank”>Shutterstock.com

Director Ben Affleck was back in the area on Monday looking for places to start shooting his new film, which is based on a book by a Boston author.

Affleck and film crew members were spotted scouting sites in Lawrence for the adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s New York Times selling novel Live By Night.

The film is about an alcohol crime syndicate, set in the 1920’s, that begins in Boston and ends up in Florida, where the main character, Joe Coughlin, is in charge of running rum routes to multiple states. Affleck is set to both direct and star in the film.

Patrick Blanchette, chief economic development director for the mayor’s office in Lawrence, said officials have spoken to production crews in the past couple of months about filming options, however nothing specific to Affleck’s latest project. “So it’s tough to say if the ones we have spoken to represent his movie,” he said.

According to reports, while looking for spots to get the movie rolling, Affleck stopped and took photos with fans outside of the Lawrence District Court.

This will be Affleck’s second movie based on one of Lehane’s novels. In 2007 he directed Gone, Baby, Gone, a thriller about a kidnapping in Boston, which starred Affleck’s brother, Casey. Pre-production for the film was announced in May, and actual production is slated for sometime in late August.