The 2015 film, “Spotlight,” was the surprise belle of the ball at the 2016 Oscars. The film, which was co-written and directed by Tom McCarthy ended up walking away with two Oscar wins (Best Picture and Best Screenplay) out of six nominations and seemed to put McCarthy in line for some big projects in the future. However, since then, it’s been all quiet on the McCarthy front. But that doesn’t mean he’s not planning for big things, specifically a film starring Matt Damon.
According to Variety, Damon has signed on to star in the upcoming film “Stillwater,” which is set to be directed by McCarthy. “Stillwater” tells the story of an oil-rig roughneck from Oklahoma that has to travel to France to help his daughter, who is on trial for a crime she says she didn’t commit. It’s a fish-out-of-water tale with the roughneck having to adapt to the French culture and language barrier while also dealing with the issues facing his family.
“Stillwater,” as mentioned, is directed by McCarthy, based on a script written by the filmmaker along with Thomas Bidegain and Noé Debré. This won’t be the first film from McCarthy since his “Spotlight” moment in the sun. He actually has finished production on the upcoming children’s film “Timmy Failure,” but as of now, that film has yet to be given a release date. “Stillwater” reunites McCarthy with Participant Media, the company that helped bring “Spotlight” to the big screen.
Participant CEO David Linde said, “The opportunity to reunite with Tom after ‘Spotlight’ and to partner with our friend and colleague Jonathan King for the first time in his new role makes ‘Stillwater’ a very special film for everyone at Participant. This is a wonderful script, centered on universal themes of connection and the search for truth, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring it to audiences around the world.”
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Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that Damon and McCarthy were scheduled to work together. The actor previously was going to star in “Spotlight,” but dreaded scheduling conflicts kept him out of the film. The report says that Damon jumped at the chance to work with the director after he was presented the script for “Stillwater.”
Damon, of course, will next be seen in the upcoming awards contender, “Ford v. Ferrari,” which arrives in theaters November 15.