Though this season of HBO’s The Newsroom will be addressing the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the event is now poised to get the big screen treatment.  Variety reports that Casey Affleck has attached himself to star in and produce Boston Strong, a drama based on the book of the same name by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge.  The story follows the massive manhunt that ensued after the tragic bombing, as well as the effect the event had on the city as a whole.  The project boasts a screenplay by Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy and is expected to go out to studios next week, where I imagine it will find a solid home.

Boston Strong marks only the second project thus far on which Affleck is a full-fledged producer, with the other being his 2010 Joaquin Phoenix documentary I’m Still Here.  As an actor, Affleck is currently shooting the Coast Guard drama The Finest Hours for Disney and recently wrapped John Hillcoat’s ensemble Triple Nine.  He'll next be seen in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar.