Ben Affleck to direct Fox pilot ‘The Middle Man’

Ben Affleck may be celebrating being the new Batman, but there is something else pretty notable coming up for the actor right now: A chance to step into the director’s chair for an upcoming pilot project for Fox.

According to Deadline, the man behind the recent Best Picture winner in “Argo” will direct “The Middle Man,” a pilot set in his native Boston during the 1960s. The project is centered around Ruby MacAteer, an agent for the FBI who is in the process of trying to take down the Italian mafia. Thanks to his relationship with gangster Mickey Flood, he is going to be forced to figure out whether or not he is able to handle his responsibilities as an officer of the law, while at the same time handling the fact that he is not going to be able to do this while being lawful.

On the surface there is a number of reasons why this pilot could end up being an interesting one to watch. In addition to having Affleck in the director’s chair, this sort of story of a good guy turned bad is almost everywhere on the medium right now. “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men” clearly have perfected it, but you look at “Boardwalk Empire” or even this summer’s “Low Winter Sun,” and you see that it still something that many showrunners and creators are looking to include in their programs.

Speaking of showrunners, Glenn Gordon Caron (“Medium”) will fill this duty if the show ends up going on to series. Meanwhile, Affleck will stay on board the show as an executive producer (much in the way that J.J. Abrams does with many of his shows).

Does this news excite you? As always, be sure to share your thoughts with a comment below!

Photo: Fox