Ben Affleck to Direct & Star in ‘Ghost Army,’ Universal’s World War II Movie

Ben Affleck will direct and star in Universal Pictures’ ‘Ghost Army.’ The World War 2 movie is based on the book ‘The Ghost Army of World War II,’ written by Rick Beyer and Elizabeth Sayles. The script is also based on a Netflix documentary titled ‘Ghost Army.’ Affleck will produce the movie under his Pearl Street Films in association with Andrew Lazar of Mad Chance Productions. Pearl Street Films’ Madison Ainley also joins the project as an executive producer. Nic Pizzolatto, who is known for ‘True Detective’, wrote the latest script from a draft by Henry Gayden of ‘Shazam!‘ fame.

The book ‘The Ghost Army of World War II,’ is a thrilling description of an obscure chapter of World War II. The plot centers on a secret task force of the Allies sent to France for a covert operation. The team members include Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, Arthur Singer, Victor Dowd, Art Kane, and Jack Masey. They are loaded with loads of inflatable tanks and a huge collection of sound effects. Their mission is to trick the Nazi soldiers by creating the illusion of troop movement on the battlefields. The Germans are led to traps and doom when they catch fake clues and sounds.

The secret task force, which consists of 1,100 men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, is known in the military circles as ‘the Ghost Army.’ They extensively use thousands of drawings and paintings throughout Nazi-occupied France and other European cities. Their fabricated divisions, bogus convoys and makeshift headquarters deliver manipulated information about the strength and location of American artillery troops. ‘The Ghost Army’ is known for saving thousands of American soldiers on the European battlefields during the deadly war.

Affleck most recently appeared in Netflix’s action thriller ‘Triple Frontier,’ alongside Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal, Garrett Hedlund, and Adria Arjona. The movie centers on five friends who reunite after a long gap. The reunion has a mission at its heart, to hunt down a ruthless South American drug lord. But loyalties are tested when the five friends’ lives catapult into unimaginable violence, bloody corpses and other grave consequences. Affleck is also busy finishing his basketball drama ‘Torrance.’ Gavin O’Connor’s Warner Bros. movie features Affleck as a former basketball superstar who struggles with addiction at the cost of his wife and family. Janina Gavankar plays the role of the ex-wife in the movie. Affleck also plays a key role in the Anne Hathaway and Dee Rees flick ‘The Last Thing He Wanted.’ He will be seen alongside Toby Jones, Rosie Perez, Edi Gathegi, and Mel Rodriguez in the Netflix thriller based on Joan Didion’s 1996 novel.

Affleck’s last outing as a director, ‘Live by Night,’ a period gangster drama, earned him mixed reviews. The actor, who is known as the helmer of ‘Argo,’ ‘The Town’ and ‘Gone Baby Gone,’ recently stepped down from Warner Bros. Pictures’ upcoming Batman project. ‘Ghost Army’ has heightened the expectation of his fans who are downhearted after his retirement as Batman. There are rumors that Armie Hammer will replace Ben Affleck’s Batman in Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘The Batman.’ Matt Reeves has already confirmed that ‘The Batman’ is not directly based on Frank Miller’s Year One comic. Instead, Reeves’ script reportedly focuses on a younger version of Batman.

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