Live by Night

A 2016 American gangster film written, directed, produced by, and starring Ben Affleck. Based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, the film follows Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck), an Irish-American World War I veteran and the son of a Boston police captain, who turns to a life of crime during the Prohibition era. Initially engaging in robberies, Joe is betrayed and imprisoned, after which he relocates to Florida, becoming a powerful bootlegger in Tampa's Ybor City. He faces numerous challenges, including confrontations with the Ku Klux Klan, conflicts with rival gangsters, and internal moral struggles. The film also explores themes of love, betrayal, and redemption. The cast includes Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Messina, Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana, and Chris Cooper. The film premiered in New York City on December 13, 2016, and was widely released on January 13, 2017. Despite its star-studded cast and high production costs, the film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb, grossing approximately $22 million against a net budget of $65 million.