Yesterday it was widely reported that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are negotiating a first look deal with Warner Bros. Today comes news of what the first project to come out of that arrangement might be. And it is very compelling.

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Affleck has been tipped to direct and star in The Trade, a film that tells the true tale of two New York Yankees pitchers who publicly traded families in the 70s.

Teammates and friends, Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich, made scandalous headlines in 1973 when they announced they had fallen in love with each other’s wives and were trading – they then moved into each other’s homes, swapping wives, children and dogs. Peterson and Susanne Kekich later married and have stayed together to this day, while Kekich and Marilyn Peterson split just months later.

Deadline says Affleck, Damon and their former Live Planet partner, Sean Bailey, have long been intrigued with the project, with Affleck eyeing the role of Peterson and Damon that of Kekich.

Dave Mandel, of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, wrote the script, so it’s likely to be funny. It wasn’t all a barrel of the laughs at the time, though.

The move caused backlash in the 70s and Peterson, who was booed at nearly every American league ballpark afterwards, said in an interview last year that he was bothered by the way the media handled the story. Speaking with AOL News to promote his memoir Mickey Mantle is Going to Heaven, Peterson said, “Some sports writers made it out like the four of us were engaged in some bizarre sex party. It was more like Mike and I were friends, and both our marriages fell apart at the same time. There was nothing dirty about it.”

Deadline says Mandel agreed to write the project years ago but it was stalled over “life rights and other issues” and so, is just getting off the ground now.

(Photo by PR Photos)

Story provided by the Dish Information Corporation