Ben Affleck third star to leave 'Triple Frontier'
American actor Ben Affleck has withdrawn from the JC Chandor thriller "Triple Frontier" a few days before filming was due to begin.
An action adventure set in the area bordering Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, Netflix's "Triple Frontier" is looking for a new lead actor after Ben Affleck decided to step back from the project.
Originally intended for "Zero Dark Thirty" and "The Hurt Locker" director Kathryn Bigelow, its script written by Mark Boal of the same critically acclaimed pair of war films, "Triple Frontier" has been through several changes since the days that Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp were linked with its lead roles.
Bigelow and Boal left the production, replaced in 2015 by JC Chandor of investment bank thriller "Margin Call," seaborne action adventure "All is Lost," and crime drama "A Most Violent Year."
By January 2017, Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy were the two leads, but in April they too moved on just as Paramount Pictures ended its interest in "Triple Frontier."
Now it's Ben Affleck's turn, having taken on the co-starring vehicle alongside his brother Casey in May.
Still in place are Chandor, Casey Affleck and Mahershala Ali, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor ("Moonlight") during the same ceremony that saw Casey receive Best Actor ("Manchester by the Sea.")
Ben Affleck said that he was going to "take some time to focus on his wellness and family," per Deadline; as the publication notes, his schedule includes promotional work for November 2017's superhero ensemble "Justice League," which is to make an appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con during a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation on July 22.
Further ahead, Ben is directing and starring in a 2019 adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Witness for the Prosecution."
Casey has agreed to 2018 features "Old Man and the Gun" and "Light of My Life" and TV series "Lewis and Clark." Ali has completed rap biopic "Roxanne Roxanne" and is involved with 2017 comedy series "Comrade Detective" and 2018's "Atila: Battle Angel" plus an animated Spider-Man project.
The Affleck brothers last appeared in the same film together in 1999, during comedy drama "200 Cigarettes," two years after the breakthrough Gus van Sant blockbuster "Good Will Hunting" and Kevin Smith's "Chasing Amy."
