Ben Affleck and Matt Damon set their next acting collaboration, RIP, as their Netflix movie, Animals, is put on pause. The childhood friends first worked together on Good Will Hunting, which won them an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and launched their careers. In 2022, Damon and Affleck launched their own production company, Artists Equity, and released their first film Air to rave reviews in 2023. Earlier this year, it was announced that Affleck and Damon would reunite for a 10th time in a new Netflix thriller titled Animals.
Now, as Animals has been put on pause, the longtime collaborators have set up their next project together. According to Deadline, Damon and Affleck are attached to star in a crime thriller titled RIP, written and directed by Joe Carnahan. Artists Equity is producing the project and filming is expected to start this fall.
What To Expect From RIP
Plot details for RIP remain under wraps, though it is described as a crime thriller. Damon and Affleck are certainly no strangers to the genre. Animals, which was originally planned to be their 10th acting collaboration, was also described as a crime thriller. However, Affleck was preoccupied with filming another action-thriller, The Accountant 2, and scheduling conflicts with the sequel caused Animals to be put on hold.
As a filmmaker, Carnahan is also familiar with crime thrillers, having built his reputation with films like Narc and Smokin’ Aces, the latter of which starred Affleck in a brief role as a bail bondsman and former cop who is hired to track down a mob informant. Smokin’ Aces received mixed reviews calling it a chaotic and violent movie that somewhat resembles Quentin Tarantino’s style, but lacks his signature wit.
Since plot details for RIP remain under wraps, it’s difficult to speculate about what audiences should expect from the crime-thriller. Carnahan’s films are often raw and gritty, which could complement Affleck and Damon’s dramatic abilities and their history of playing intense, morally complex characters. Carnahan could also incorporate his signature dark humor and utilize Damon and Affleck’s ability to balance dramatic intensity with witty dialogue, something they have both done in the past. Overall, considering Carnahan’s style, his collaboration with Damon and Affleck has the potential to be a compelling crime thriller.