Matt Damon Ben Affleck Split - H 2012
Getty ImagesWarner Bros. has picked up Race to the South Pole, a drama pitch from Peter Glanz with Casey Affleck attached.
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are producing via their Warners-based banner Pearl Street, as is the company’s newly installed president, Jennifer Todd.
Like its title suggests, the project aims to tell the true story of two explorers in the early 1900s and their pursuit to be the first person to reach the South Pole — the last uncharted territory on the planet. Englishman Robert Falcon Scott and Norwegian Roald Amundsen were explorers from antithetical countries: one from the era’s most powerful empire, the other from a country that had just achieved independence. Their race, seen as heroic during a golden age of exploration, sparked international interest and galvanized the world to see who would reach Earth’s southernmost point first.
(Without spoiling things too much, let’s just say that Amundsen went on to be the first to reach the North Pole. Scott … did not.)
Casey Affleck is attached to play Scott.
Sarah Schechter is overseeing for the studio. Chay Carter is shepherding for Pearl Street.
Glanz, repped by WME and Mosaic, is coming off directing his debut feature, The Longest Week, an indie romantic comedy that is based on his short, A Relationship in Four Days. The feature stars Jason Bateman and Olivia Wilde.
WME-repped Casey Affleck, who voices one of the characters in ParaNorman, has Out of the Furnace, which stars Christian Bale and Zoe Saldana, in the can. Also wrapped is Ain’t Them Bodies Saints with Ben Foster and Rooney Mara.
Both Ben Affleck and Damon have been busy firing on their multihyphenate cylinders. Affleck is gearing up for the release of Argo, the thriller he directed, starred in and produced which is coming off stellar appearances at the Toronto and Telluride film festival. Damon recently wrapped a star turn in Promised Land, a Gus Van Sant-directed drama that he co-wrote, stars and is a producer on, with the movie being a Pearl Street production.
Among Pearl Street’s projects in development is a film based on Boston organized crime figure Whitey Bulger. Affleck is attached to direct, with Damon starring as Bulger.
