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Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Get First Look Deal at Warner Bros

by Ethan Anderton
February 18, 2010
Source: NY Mag, THR

It's hard to believe it's been 13 years since superstars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck made a huge break onto the writing scene with their Oscar winning script for Good Will Hunting, which also served as a huge stepping stone to the mostly lucrative acting careers each of them have enjoyed. Now the two are anxious to rekindle the creative fire they once shared together as NY Mag's Vulture and THR report they are re-forming their old production company in a new venture with a first look production deal at Warner Bros. As of now it's unclear if this new venture will still take on their old Live Planet name or if this is a completely new flag.

Despite vast differences in their choice of roles, some of which proved to be more detrimental to the Affleck portion of the duo, the two are in the different stages or realizing similar ambitions. Affleck's poor turns in films like Daredevil, Surviving Christmas and Gigli led him into his directing career which has proven to be more than satisfactory with Gone Baby Gone, starring his brother Casey Affleck, and his second directorial effort, The Town, an adaptations of Chuck Hogan's The Prince of Thieves. Luckily Affleck has dusted off his quality acting suit for recent stints in State of Play and a surprisingly funny part in Extract.

Meanwhile, and rather luckily, Matt Damon's quality-project-drought happened early on in his career with mistakes like Titan A.E., All the Pretty Horses and The Legend of Bagger Vance. No doubt his participation in Ocean's Eleven helped bring him out of a dry spell, but then along came Jason Bourne and everything has been smooth sailing since then. However, no matter how successful his acting career, Damon has told many of his closest collaborators that he still dreams of directing, and as such has chosen his roles carefully in order to work with the likes of Martin Scorsese (The Departed), Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's Trilogy), Paul Greengrass (Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum) and even Steven Spielberg in 1998 for Saving Private Ryan. Sounds like the best film school ever.

Previously the two had brought some interesting content through Live Planet including Matchstick Men, the shaky, yet wholly captivating and interesting run of the filmmaking reality series "Project Greenlight," and even involement with Tron Legacy before their contract with Disney ended in 2007. But in a new industry obsessed with reboots, remakes and sequels, there's no telling what kind of content Affleck and Damon will be hitting. We can only hope there's room for originality and quality stories like Good Will Hunting. Of course, we'll keep you updated on their projects. Happy to have Affleck and Damon together again?

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