Ben Affleck May Join Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby'

Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby is slowly working towards a start date. He's got Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan set to play the three central characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel. Now Ben Affleck is in talks to play a part, the primary sticking point being the schedule for his next directorial project, Argo. Deadline says that "signs point to" Ben Affleck reworking his schedule so that he can do both films. They're both Warner Bros. projects, so that might help.

He would be Tom Buchanan, the husband of Carey Mulligan's character Daisy Buchanan. Leonardo DiCaprio is Jay Gatsby, who has been in love with Daisy for years, and Tobey Maguire is Nick Carraway, a friend of Jay and cousin of Daisy.

He narrates the novel, telling of the 'old money' community East Egg where Tom and Daisy live, and the 'new money' West Egg that lies across a bay where where Jay Gatsby resides. When Nick rents a small home in West Egg for a summer he befriends Jay and eventually learns of the complexities of the relationships among all the people around him. Tom Buchanan is well past his glory days, a fading dilettante and a prime model of the American Douchebag of the early '20s.

There are several other big roles to cast, including gas station owner George and his wife Myrtle, with whom Ben Affleck's character is having an affair.

And, lest you forget, for some reason this project is planned as a 3D production.