After Air, Matt Damon And Ben Affleck Are Getting Back Together Again For A New Crime Thriller, And Sign Me Up

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck for CBS Sunday Morning interview in 2023 for Air
(Image credit: CBS)

One of the great filmmaking duos, both behind and in front of the camera, is Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The pair, who both grew up in Boston together, first turned heads in a big way when they made one of the best movies of the 1990s, Good Will Hunting. Over 25 years later, the two stars apparently remain “bizarrely close” to one another and are now reportedly getting ready to star in yet another flick together! 

Sign! Me! Up! Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have made some great stuff together in the past, most recently with Air. Per Deadline, the movie stars are both looking to work together again for a crime thriller called RIP

While Affleck often directs his own movies, this won’t be the case this time. The mysterious project has tapped Joe Carnahan to write and direct. Carnahan was one of the writers behind 2020’s Bad Boys For Life, along with also having his name on 2006’s Smokin’ Aces, 2010’s The A-Team and 2021’s Copshop

With Carnahan’s writing history in mind, I have a feeling that RIP is going to be a tad more fun of a flick than Damon and Affleck have done before in the genre. Between Damon being part of Martin Scorsese’s The Departed back in 2006, to Affleck’s memorable role in Gone Girl, I can’t wait to see what they bring to a crime thriller together! 

Additionally, the pair have a great eye for script, especially since they are both successful actors who are also hit screenwriters! How can we forget the time they won for Good Will Hunting, with Affleck specifically becoming the youngest to ever win in the category for screenwriting! (Damon is just two years older.) 

Affleck has reportedly just wrapped production on The Accountant 2 and is ready to keep working, and now we know another project of his is on the horizon. Affleck and Damon were originally going to make a different crime thriller together with a movie called Animals, but it has since fallen through. It didn’t take long for the actors to find another collaboration, and per the report, their pitch for RIP is coming together fast, as the actors plan to get on set and film it this fall. 

Affleck and Damon released Air last year to much success. The biopic about the origins of the Air Jordan made $90 million at the box office ahead of becoming available to stream with an Amazon Prime subscription. The movie earned positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, and was even in the conversation for awards season, earning two Golden Globe nominations (for Damon’s performance and Best Musical/Comedy) and three nominations at the Critics Choice Awards (for Best Acting Ensemble, Original Screenplay and Best Editing). 

I’m so ready for the latest collaboration from Affleck and Damon! Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news about its progress.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.