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EXCLUSIVE: Sometimes, the hottest projects in town aren’t the newest. Warner Bros is in early talks with Ben Affleck to come aboard to direct and possibly star in Replay, a Jason Smilovic-scripted adaptation of a Ken Grimwood novel. The protagonist is a 43-year old radio journalist who dies, wakes up in his 18-year old body, and gets to relive his life over and over. With his original memory intact, he takes the opportunity to travel down roads he passed up the first time around. The book was published in 1989, and Lee Rich first set it up as a movie back then. It languished, and then Smilovic turned out a script that has top leading men circling. The question will be: does Affleck play the lead role himself? He’s age appropriate and co-wrote and directed The Town primarily to give himself the killer lead role of the thief who falls in love with the bank employee during a heist. Rich and Elaine Goldsmith Thomas are producing.
After the strong grosses and acclaim for The Town, Affleck is being offered a lot of stuff to direct. He is still keen on The Trade, the Dave Mandel-scripted film based on the 70s wife swap of New York Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich, Affleck is indeed interested in Replay, and in playing that starring role. He just met with Smilovic and Goldsmith Thomas, and gave them a bunch of notes. Smilovic has gone back to do another pass. Affleck won’t decide his next picture until that and The Trade get new drafts. Then he’ll figure out what to do next.
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Why is no one talking about the female lead? Tell me it’s still there! Tel me he didn’t wipe it out.
He did a great job in The Town, especially the quiet scenes when he talks of his mother. Should be a grat fit for Jim.
My favorite book. Certainly the best time travel story ever. It deserves to be made into a film. God, I hope they do it justice.
A really great book – love that this is getting some heat! Ben could handle it, but I’d love to see it made regardless.
I have not read the script, but in the book, the 2 leads keep reliving age 18-43 in 25 year loops, and they do it for several cycles. Casting the roles based on someone being able to “look” 18 isn’t the way to go. They need to be able to slide reasonably between 18-43 and they need to be able to act, with chops. Cruise and Roberts would never work because they skew too old visibly, and they bring too much baggage to the table as “stars”.
Seth Green mentioned an interest in adapting this novel a long time ago in an interview, too. Pretty sure thats irrelevent to thsi story, but … people have clearly been championing the book. Hope it gets greenlit!
I read this book when it first came out and thought it would make a great film – it was an extraordinary read! Unfortunately, Mr. Grimwood is no longer with us – I would have liked to see his pleasure.
One of the best books i’ve read. love love love the book, was looking forward for someone to made a movie. i agree with someone there, i just hope Ben Affleck do the justice, but it seems he already changng the story. can’t wait!!!!
Sounds a bit like that movie The Family Man (Nick Cage).. I could be wrong regarding the title.
I for one am sick of the various plays on It’s a Wonderful Life.
Let it go.. the original can’t be beat.
I think Be Affleck is prefect to direct this movie. If this book is based in the late 80′s? Ben has already proven that he can adapt a dated book to present day. It has taken WB 22 years to get this movie made. They know they are up against people calling Replay a movie that has been made before… hence Groundhog Day, 17 Again, and 13 going on 30. This is another reason for Affleck to direct Replay. Ben has proven he can take a small budget and create a excellent movie. WB can cut their loses if the movie doesn’t catch on with audiences. They don’t have to use the budget to pay a big name director and a mega star. With Ben they get to for one.
Ben should stay behind the scenes writing and directing. Leading man? Not sure anymore.
That’s what you said yesterday and the before that.
I read the book in my early twenties cover to cover over night. I even worked on a script for it for a few years. It still is today my favorite novel. I wish all the best to Ben in this endeavor. I actually think he would be great for the part.
REPLAY the novel has been on the development track at WB for nearly 25 years, with practically every A-list writer in town submitting a draft at some point. The book, while superficially a time travel/second chance fantasy similar to many others, is really sui generis as an almost mystical – in a Hindu/Buddhist sense – examination of the transient nature of reality. The key difference is in the specific mechanism of the hero’s recurrent jumps back into earlier periods of his own life, which occur at ever-shorter intervals. It’s like bungie-jumping into the past, and it’s the brilliant innovation here that makes the story work as a unique take on the theme. Lose that, plus the particular chunk of history that the book’s time frame deals with – 1963 to the mid-1980′s – and you miss the point of making this at all.
I totally agree with Gordon Cole – if the era of the book is changed then it won’t have the same impact. I originally found this book years ago after researching an immortality theme on the ‘net and it throwing up another book of Ken Grimwoods, called Elise. From there I found Replay and as said by many others here, it has been one of the best books I have ever read. As reported, the rights were sold to Warner Bros over 20 years ago and the original actors earmarked were Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. Sadly, although these would have been good choices back then, they are both, I think, a little too old to to carry off these roles. Also bear in mind that the female lead, Pamela, replays back to a young teen for the first couple of ‘Replays’ and Jeff has to wait for her until she is legally old enough!
Each Replay gets shorter, with them coming back later and later in life, although their deaths are always at exactly the same time during 1988. They both go through a multitude of emotions and different scenarios each time, losing children, revisiting loved ones, trying to change history – it is a fascinating concept!
It has been reported by an old friend of Ken Grimwoods that it was a very sore point with him that a movie never got made in his life time and he never saw his friend angrier than when his story got ripped off by the likes of Groundhog Day. How sad that he will never see it brought to fruition – unless of course, he is a Replayer himself lol!!
Seriously though, like many others here, I beg that they do the film justice and don’t rip it to shreds!!
Debra, this is nothing like It’s A Wonderful Life. Jimmy Stewart doesn’t relive his life, he sees what others’ lives would have been like without him. And add me to the chorus saying this isn’t like Groundhog Day (which I also love), or any other “second chance” story. For a book about replaying your life over and over, it’s got a lot of surprises and twists. If the people posting here who’ve read and loved it don’t convince you it’s something special, go to Amazon and read some of the hundreds of reviews it’s received. People love this book; it means something to them. If you can do it justice, they’ll flock to it, maybe even (forgive me) see it again and again. By the same token, if you screw it up, they’ll never forgive you. So bring the best talent you can find to it; whether that’s Affleck, as director or actor, I’m not sure.
It’s a great book, read it in the ’90s. Never seen anything like it on screen before. The main character creates multiple alternate histories! And he’s not the only one reliving the past, there are others. If I remember correctly, young Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are characters in the book, and even their lives are altered.
Hope they can pull off the movie.
I finally just saw The Town. I know Ben Affleck and can honestly say this could not happen to a nicer guy. This film is masterly done and has a very sure hand on it. I’m so pleased for him.
I knew Ken and recognise alot of the places and constructs in the book. To reference Ground Hog Day is an insult and Its a Wonderful Life, a joke. Looking forward to its screening. Bens directing is impeccable. Wish I could read the screen play.
I read Replay 4 years ago and it’s still the best novel ever written.Finally the movie is being made.If Ben does this justice, nothing will touch it!