John Wells will direct and Ben Affleck is in negotiations to star in The Company Men, a drama about a man whose life is upended by a financial downsizing, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Wells is writing the screenplay about a man who is laid off and must cope with the financial consequences and the fallout at home. The script calls for a second male lead.

The Company Men initially had been set up at Warners, where Wells' shingle has a deal, but it is in turnaround there; it has not yet been set up elsewhere.

No production date has been set.