Ben Affleck recently dropped out of the career con-artist comedy “Focus”, set to star Kristen Stewart, and he now tells MTV why he had to jump ship.

“Basically I’m doing a movie called Live By Night and I’m trying to meet this schedule in order to do it, in order to meet the back end so that I can have it released at the right time, and I just hadn’t gotten enough writing done and it became clear that if I took that job and was in Buenos Aires for three months, I was gonna miss the deadline”, says the “Argo” helmer. “I had to choose between getting the movie out when I want to or doing this one, so reluctantly I chose the [former]. But I love those guys, I love Kristen, I was really excited to work with her, I think the movie’s gonna be fabulous, and I’m sure they’ll find a great guy for it.”

Dennis Lehane’s 1920′s set-drama “Live by Night” fixes on a gangster who falls in love with one of the hostages he has tied up in a bank heist.

“Focus”, from “Crazy Stupid Love” helmers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, is about a seasoned con-artist who takes a young protege under his wings.