Gandolfini, Ben May 'Survive' Together

By Stephen M. Silverman

12/18/2002 at 01:20 PM EST

Never mind Ben Affleck and J.Lo. Get ready for Ben and Tony Soprano.

Variety reports that "The Sopranos" star James Gandolfini, 41, is in negotiations to star opposite Affleck in DreamWorks' "Surviving Christmas," a comedy about a man (played by Gandolfini) so neurotic that he doesn't have a family of his own -- so he hires one for the holidays. Affleck is presumably a member of that family.

The snag is the family turns out to be psychotic. (Well, aren't they all?)

Mike Mitchell ("Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo") is set to direct "Surviving Christmas," according to the trade paper, which adds that Gandolfini's deal will hinge on whether he can first finish an independent film called "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" as well as fit in the fifth and, presumably, last season of "The Sopranos" next spring.

Last week, the HBO Mob hit's 75-minute fourth-season finale attracted 12.5 million viewers -- the second-most-watched program in the pay-cable network's history, after the show's season opener, which drew 13.4 million. (HBO, like PEOPLE, is part of AOL Time Warner.)

In previous breaks in his "Sopranos" schedule, Gandolfini appeared in two other DreamWorks features -- 2001's "The Mexican," with Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt, and "The Last Castle," with Robert Redford.