Ben Affleck is quietly gathering an impressive cast for his second directorial effort after 2006’s Gone Baby Gone. Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) have joined The Town, the Boston-based crime drama which Affleck will also star in. Based on the Chuck Hogan novel “Prince of Thieves,” the story follows a notorious bank robber (Affleck) who contemplates giving up his life of crime after he becomes enamored with the manager (Hall) of a bank he holds up. The FBI sees her as their best shot at capturing the wanted criminal, but things get complicated when the agent assigned to the case (Hamm) also falls for the manager.

Peter Craig and Chuck Hogan wrote the original draft, which Affleck then did a rewrite of. The movie is slated to begin filming next month on location in Boston, following in the footsteps of Gone Baby Gone. The premise sounds interesting enough, if a bit overly dramatic, but Affleck showed a deft hand with his first film so I have high hopes for this one.

Tags: Ben Affleck, Chuck Hogan, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, The Town