While talk surroundingBen Affleckthese days mostly revolves around his role as Batman, the actor is lining up a sequel of a very different sort. Per Deadline, Affleck is in talks to reprise his role in a sequel to last year’s solid thrillerThe Accountantalongside returning directorGavin O’Connorand returning screenwriterBill Dubuque. Those deals, including those of producersLynette Howell TaylorandMark Williams, are being worked out now, but once they’re settled they’ll move on to solidifying the story. Deadline notes thatThe Accountant 2will likely involve the return ofJon Bernthal, who played the hitman brother of Affleck’s character in the first film.
Affleck played an autistic accountant in the first movie who also led a double life as a hitman for hire. It was a pleasantly surprising film—an action thriller with a brain, almost like an adaptation of a great page-turning novel that doesn’t exist. The film grossed a solid $155.1 million worldwide, which is fine but doesn’t exactly scream “sequel” so it’s curious to see Warner Bros. putting this follow-up together.
The only other projects on Affleck’s active docket at the moment areJustice League, for which he’s in the midst of reshoots under the direction ofJoss Whedon, and of courseThe Batman, which hasMatt Reevesdirecting after Affleck bowed out of the director’s chair.The Batmandoesn’t yet have a release date or start-date, and Reeves is currently in the midst of releasingWar for the Planet of the Apes, so hard development on that film under Reeves hasn’t even begun yet. It’s possible Affleck doesThe Batmannext year, or it’s possible he gets toThe Accountant 2first while development continues onThe Batman.
The Accountantwas one of a handful of projects that made Affleck delay his directorialArgofollow-upLive by Night. First he pushed it to work withDavid FincheronGone Girl, then Batman, and thenThe Accountant. The latter seemed like the stranger choice, but Affleck surely sparked to the character and/or O’Connor and seems to have had fun making the film as well.
O’Connor has a few other projects in development, includingaGreen Hornetrebootat Paramount and the formerMatt DamonvehicleFather Daughter Time. Once deals are complete forThe Accountant 2we’ll have a better idea of the timeline, but this is a sequel I’ll definitely see.
