What a turnaround for Ben Affleck since his critically acclaimed direction of the child kidnapping thriller Gone Baby Gone, so much so that he's now being trusted to rewrite, star and take charge of the cameras for the drama The Town, which is based on the Chuck Hogan novel, The Prince of Thieves.

Warner Bros want Affleck to play a career thief who becomes smitten by the manager of a bank in Charlestown, Massachusetts, according to Variety. He's an obvious choice to take charge of the project, given his success in depicting a rather similar, rundown Boston suburb in Gone Baby Gone.

Affleck is rewriting the original screenplay by Peter Craig and Hogan himself. Indecent Proposal's Adrian Lyne was originally set to direct but has now stepped aside.

Affleck will next be seen on our screens as a US congressman embroiled in a conspiracy in the Hollywood adaptation of acclaimed BBC miniseries State of Play, which is being directed by The Last King of Scotland's Kevin Macdonald. He's also part of the cast for the romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into you, which also stars Jennifers Aniston and Connelly, Justin Long, Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore.