Ben Affleck and Matt Damon got Artists Equity off to a strong start last year with “Air.” Now the duo’s long creative partnership continues with “Animals,” a crime thriller with Affleck set to direct and Damon starring. THR reports that Netflix landed the film, which looks to start shooting in LA this March.
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Written by Connor McIntyre with revisions by Billy Ray, “Animals” follows a mayoral candidate whose son gets kidnapped, forcing him and his wife to get their hands dirty. The long-gestating project has had several working titles, like “The Animals Of Los Angeles” and “Be Gentlemen,” before it landed on its current one. As noted earlier, Affleck and Damon will co-produce through their Artists Equity banner with Dani Bernfeld. Brad Weston and Collin Creighton also produce the picture through MakeReady. MakeReady co-developed the project with Fifth Season, the sales and distribution company formerly known as Endeavor Content.
“Animals” will be the tenth movie Affleck and Damon have worked on together. Their most recent before this one, “Air,” was the first movie produced by Artists Equity, and Affleck’s first directing gig since 2016’s “Live By Night.” A sports-finance drama about how Nike signed Michael Jordan to an industry-shifting shoe contract, “Air” was an easy lay-up for Affleck and Damon, easily winning audiences over and getting acclaimed marks from critics across the board. That film hit Prime Video after its theatrical run, and it’s likely Netflix will give “Animals” a brief run in theaters before it bows on streaming.
Affleck is back in the directing chair for “Animals,” but he won’t star. As for Damon, he adds another movie to his upcoming films list, which includes another Artists Equity picture, “The Instigators” with Affleck’s sibling Casey Affleck. Other forthcoming films for Damon include “IF,” “Unstoppable,” and Ethan Coen‘s “Drive-Away Dolls,” which hits theaters on February 23.
As for “Animals,” if it starts shooting in March as planned, expect it in theaters in late 2024/early 2025.