Matt Damon and Ben Affleck teaming back up Produce Movies Again
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck will be teaming back up to reform their production company, which is negotiationg to close a first-look production deal with Warner Bros.
The longtime friends had viable acting careers before 1997's Goodwill Hunting, but the Oscar win that year for best original screenplay turned them into leading men, with public consciousness joining them at the hip. While they weren't exactly riding around on a tandem bicycle, they did team up on-screen soon after in Dogma, and lampooned their own friendship in the Kevin Smith follow up Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
More notably behind the camera, they created and ran LivePlanet productions with Chris Moore and Sean Bailey -- which was behind the duo's "Project Greenlight" features Stolen Summer, The Battle of Shaker Heights and Feast -- which had a deal at Disney until 2007. Details are unknown on the length of the agreement with WB, and whether or not they will use the LivePlanet moniker for the new company's name.
Their paths leading up to their reunion couldn't have been more different, or unpredictable. The only thing I've come to expect from Affleck and Damon is the unexpected. Off the post-Oscar blocks, Damon turned to dramas and indie films, with Affleck going the big-budget action route (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor). The roles have reversed somewhat, with the far more consistent Damon now most known for the Bourne action franchise under his belt, and as a main player in the all-star Ocean's franchise; while Affleck became tabloid fodder and churned out a string of critical and commercial bombs, with Gigli, Paycheck and Surviving Christmas.
Affleck has surprisingly redeemed himself as of late, proving his undeniable talent behind the camera as a writer-director, helming the critically acclaimed Gone Baby Gone, with big buzz surrounding his follow up, Warner's upcoming crime-thriller The Town, in which he also stars. Damon has also expressed interest in one day helming features. As NYMag points out, his most recent film endeavors could be viewed as an impromptu film school at Warner Bros., staffed by Oscar-winning directors:
In 2006, he starred in Martin Scorsese's The Departed for the studio, which won Best Picture and Scorsese his first Best Director Oscar. In 2007, as part of the ensemble cast in Ocean's Thirteen, Damon was again able to observe Soderbergh up close, reteamed with him to star in Che: Part Two, and then headlined his comedy The Informant! last year. And of course, Damon is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood, who's himself won the Best Director Oscar twice — for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby.
The dynamic duo are at the top of their game, so a first-look deal isn't the most necessary thing for them. This is a clear sign however that they're probably gearing up for some projects that they already have up their sleeve.