Casting Ben Affleck's Chinatown Movie

Ben Affleck is set to direct a recently announced adaptation of The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood, Sam Wasson's book chronicling the production of Roman Polanski's iconic noir, Chinatown.

Polanski's film is often considered a movie that heralded the end of an era for Hollywood, one of the last few true Noir films ever produced. The movie itself is widely recognized as one of the greatest films ever made, from its brilliant original script to the plethora of fantastic performances littered throughout, but the filming came at a troubling time for many of its stars.

Wasson's book takes a look at both the production of this beloved film and the intriguing sub-plots that many of its key players found themselves wallowing in the mire of during its shoot. From Jack Nicholson's whirlwind and ultimately doomed romance with Anjelica Huston to Roman Polanski's return to LA after the brutal murder of his wife and unborn child, the events surrounding Chinatown's production make for a compelling read and could make an even more compelling film.

Much as the original film was famed for its brilliant ensemble cast. Affleck's in-depth behind the scenes look at the lives of the iconic stars of the time could rise or fall on its actors. Here's a look at some potential stars to play the stars.

Perhaps most famous for his role in the Rocky franchise, Burt Young has a small but memorable part in Chinatown and one that would be worth exploring in Affleck's film, as it features a pretty dated reference to domestic abuse that would be worth a discussion.

Aside from that, Young is a bit of a character. Along with acting, he is a talented painter and writer, and there are few actors that could capture Young's particular New York swagger like Jason Clarke.

Clarke is a fantastic actor who has proven himself capable of embodying a whole myriad of characters over the last few years, and it would require that kind of adaptability considering Chinatown's Curly seems as far from the real Burt Young as you could hope to find.

Although not a prominent character in the film, it could be easily imagined that Burt Young would be a big presence on set and Clarke is a man who certainly carries the kind of respect these days to pull the role off.