Plans are afoot in Iran to produce a riposte to Ben Affleck's Oscar-nominated movie Argo, which depicts a CIA attempt to rescue six Americans from Tehran duing the 1979 hostage crisis, according to reports.
Director Ataollah Salmanian told the Iranian news agency MNA that he was working on a film to be called The General Staff, and which "should be an appropriate response to the ahistoric film Argo". Ever since its premiere in the US in October 2012, Argo has been viewed with disfavour by the Iranian establishment, and Salmanian hopes to secure funding from the Art Bureau wing of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organisation.
Meanwhile, Affleck confirmed that his own follow-up to the otherwise well-received Argo will be an adaptation of Dennis Lehane's 20s-set crime novel Live by Night, about mobsters during the Prohibition era.
Affleck has already adapted another Lehane novel, Gone Baby Gone, and, as with Argo, may take the lead role as well as direct. As a result of taking on the project, Affleck has had to drop out of acting opposite Kristen Stewart in the con-artist drama Focus.
Affleck was also surprisingly passed over for a best director nomination for the Academy Awards, which were announced on Thursday, but can comfort himself with Argo's double win at the Critic's Choice movie awards. Argo took best picture and Affleck best director. Silver Linings Playbook, however, won most, with four: best acting ensemble, best comedy, best actor and actress in comedy.
Full list of Critics' Choice awards
Best picture
Argo
Best actor
Daniel Day-Lewis
Best actress
Jessica Chastain
Best supporting actor
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Best supporting actress
Anne Hathaway
Best young actor/actress
Quvenzhané Wallis
Best acting ensemble
Silver Linings Playbook
Best director
Ben Affleck
Best original screenplay
Quentin Tarantino
Best adapted screenplay
Tony Kushner
Best cinematography
Life of Pi
Best art direction
Anna Karenina
Best editing
Zero Dark Thirty
Best costume design
Anna Karenina
Best makeup
Cloud Atlas
Best visual effects
Life of Pi
Best animated feature
Wreck-It Ralph
Best action movie
Skyfall
Best actor in an action movie
Daniel Craig
Best actress in an action movie
Jennifer Lawrence
Best comedy
Silver Linings Playbook
Best actor in a comedy
Bradley Cooper
Best actress in a comedy
Jennifer Lawrence
Best sci-Fi/horror movie
Looper
Best foreign language film
Amour
Best documentary feature
Searching for Sugarman
Best song
Skyfall
Best score -
John Williams
