Having pioneered tech-noir with Blade Runner, Ridley Scott is trying his hand at classical noir with The Kind One. Variety reports that Scott will direct and produce an adaptation of the Tom Epperson book, with Epperson himself writing the screenplay. The novel is about an amnesiac in 1930s Los Angeles who is informed that before he lost his memory, he was a ruthless gangster named "Two-Gun Danny," and that he works for a fearsome gangland boss. Epperson is a screenwriter by trade, best known for co-writing The Gift with Billy Bob Thornton; The Kind One is his first novel.

The other person to sign on to the project is Casey Affleck, who is clearly enjoying his new lease on life following The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Gone Baby Gone. He's really the perfect noir hero, scrappy, jaded and intelligent; we saw some of that on display in his brother's film, where he practically disappeared into the tough working-class Boston milieu. He and Scott should be able to hit this one out of the park, if the source material is any good. As always, I'd love to hear from commenters who are familiar with the book.

It's still hard for me to imagine Casey Affleck as a rising movie star. This isn't to say that I don't think he has talent, but seeing him these days makes me giggle a little bit, because I think back to his days as a tracer hater and his time on 200 Cigarettes, the indie comedy/drama Desert Blue, and of course all that sage advice in American Pie. The man has come a long way, and after finally seeing The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Gone Baby Gone up on the big screen, Variety reports that he's getting into the mob.

Affleck is going to head the noir period piece The Kind One, which Tom Epperson will adapt from his recently published novel. Set in Los Angeles in the 1930s, the film focuses on "an amnesiac (Affleck) who finds himself working for a mobster -- a sadistic killer given the nickname 'the Kind One' -- and falling in love with the thug's girlfriend." There's smarts for you. Or, a big set of brass...well, you get the idea. Once the strike wraps up, which will hopefully be soon, Epperson will turn his work into a script. The writer is a childhood friend of Billy Bob Thornton's, and the two collaborated on Sam Raimi's The Gift back in 2000, so I'm hoping for good things. At the moment, this is all we have. While the star and writer are in place, there's no word on who will direct this puppy.