Ben Affleck Will NOT Star in THE GREAT GATSBY

It looks like Ben Affleck ultimately will not be joining the cast of Baz Lurhmann’s The Great Gatsby. After working hard to try and fit the film into his schedule, the actor was forced to turn the offer down. Deadline reports that Affleck wasn’t able to commit to The Great Gatsby because filming conflicted with his next directorial project Argo. The actor was up for the role of Tom Buchanan, husband of Carey Mulligan’s Daisy. Leonardo DiCaprio is set as Gatsby himself, and Tobey Maguire will be taking on the role of narrator Nick Carraway. Isla Fischer is also now in talks to play Myrtle Wilson.

Argo, which is being produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov (The American), revolves around the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. Production on The Great Gatsby is set to begin in August in Sydney. No word on who the frontrunner to take on Tom Buchanan is now, but apparently Lurhmann is looking to add some more Australian names to his cast to help with production costs. Hit the jump for a synopsis of The Great Gatsby.

Here’s the synopsis for The Great Gatsby:

The mysterious Jay Gatsby embodies the American notion that it is possible to redefine oneself and persuade the world to accept that definition. Gatsby’s youthful neighbor, Nick Carraway, fascinated with the display of enormous wealth in which Gatsby revels, finds himself swept up in the lavish lifestyle of Long Island society during the Jazz Age. [Barnes & Noble]