Ben Affleck has began casting his "Tehran hostage thriller" Argo with Oscar-winning actor Alan Arkin [Little Miss Sunshine.] Arkin will play Hollywood producer "Lester Siegel", a military veteran. Variety break the news and report that the film is based on a "CIA team who coordinate with the Canadian government to rescue six U.S. dipomats who'd been taken hostage at the American embassy by a group of Iranians in 1979 by pretending that they were part of a Hollywood film crew scouting a movie called Argo." Affleck is also expected to play a role in the film but no details are known as of yet. Screenwriter Chris Terrio adapted Joshua Bearman's article from Wired magazine [April 2007] titled: "How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue American from Tehran." George Clooney and Grant Heslov will produce for Warner Bros.
