India, Feb. 22 -- Ben Affleck has expressed his excitement about landing the lead role alongside The X-Files icon Gillian Anderson in an upcoming thriller, revealing he's "overjoyed" by the opportunity. Sources revealed to RadarOnline, that the actor, who recently split from Jennifer Lopez, has long admired Anderson, and believes that Matt Damon's loss is his "gain" after Damon had to drop out of the project.

A source told RadarOnline, "Ben's got quite the tale brewing about stepping in for Matt, claiming it's all down to 'scheduling.' Sure, the film's been pushed back, but the buzz is that they're rolling cameras by late March! And guess what? Everyone can't stop gushing about the sizzling chemistry between Gillian and Ben."

The inside...