Ben Affleck to join star-studded Great Gatsby cast

Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby continues to add stars to its already super-shiny constellation. The latest big name in talks to join is Ben Affleck. He would play Tom Buchanan alongside Leonardo DiCaprio's Jay Gatsby and Tobey Maguire's Nick Carraway. Right now, talks are stalled because of a scheduling conflict — Affleck has to direct his next movie, a political thriller called Argo.

There was a time when I would have said that both were terrible ideas (since sometime around when the phrase "Bennifer" entered the public parlance, I lost interest in Ben Affleck as an actor). But, in the wake of Gone Baby Gone and The Town, I'd say directing should be Ben's priority.  As much as I'd like to see the combined pay of the cast climb to a billion dollars, Ben's contribution to cinema is greater behind the camera.  Both projects are scheduled for fall shooting, which presents quite the dilemma, but I have the perfect solution: let Ben direct his Iranian hostage flick and cast Jon Hamm in Gatsby. Boom.