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Ben Affleck Watch: Day 3
Published: 8/12/2010 11:01 PM
Last Modified: 8/12/2010 11:01 PM

Why did Ben Affleck visit Bartlesville? It may be for the same reason that Christian Bale showed up there in 2008, and why Rachel McAdams came to town in 2009 for a tour: They all want to make a movie with filmmaker Terrence Malick.
Bale and McAdams have previously been attached to the long-gestating project known only as the “Untitled Terrence Malick Project” in Hollywood circles that even have that much information about the secretive filmmaker, who was raised in Bartlesville.
Hollywood industry news website The Wrap on Thursday quoted an unnamed source “familiar with the project” as saying that Affleck, as well as fellow Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz, had been cast in Malick’s film.
Weisz’s publicist confirmed the casting, the Wrap said, but Affleck’s management had not. The report went on to say that Affleck “seems” to be replacing Bale in the cast for what’s been described as a romantic drama.
The many sightings of Affleck, his actress wife Jennifer Garner and their children, ranging from Broken Arrow’s Bass Pro (where he posed for photos and apparently told an employee he was shooting a film in Bartlesville and needed fishing equipment) make sense in connection to Malick’s planned picture.
Of course, a start date for a Malick film shooting in Oklahoma is purely speculative. The meticulous director is still looking to release his latest film, “Tree of Life,” starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt, later this year for Oscar consideration.
For Malick – a man who went 20 years between films with 1978’s “Days of Heaven” and 1998’s “The Thin Red Line” – to begin shooting a new film this year would be uncharacteristic, to say the least. But the director is 66, and his last two films have been produced in seven and five years, respectively.
While the Wrap said Malick’s film is to begin production in October in Oklahoma, I can only recall what Jill Simpson, director of the Oklahoma Film & Music Office told me on Wednesday, which wasn’t much: that she hoped a new film (she did not supply a title) would start production in the state in the fall, but she’d believe it when the cameras start rolling.
Affleck or his wife – or both – may likely have been visiting our state in connection to a future film project. Is that the “Untitled Terrence Malick Project?” Stay tuned.

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“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

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Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

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