In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Casey Affleck says that “Midnight Run” served as his inspiration for writing a brand new Boston-based heist film called “The Instigators.” This news comes fresh off the heels of both Affleck and Matt Damon playing military men in last year’s global phenomenon “Oppenheimer.”
The film is co-written by Affleck and features the two going back to their Boston origins. Entertainment Weekly has the first look at this exclusive picture. Some of Affleck’s favorite things served as inspiration for the Apple TV+ original. Affleck says that both “Midnight Run” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” were the inspirations behind the project.
In order “to pull off a robbery of the ill-gained earnings of a corrupt politician,” Cobby (Affleck), an ex-con, unwillingly teams up with desperate father Rory, played by Damon, according to the official synopsis. Upon the inevitable detour of the theft, the unusual duo “find themselves engulfed in a whirlwind of chaos, pursued not only by the police but also backward bureaucrats and vengeful crime bosses.” Somehow, they manage to persuade Hong Chau, Rory’s therapist, to accompany them on their “riotous getaway.”
Affleck describes it as “two strangers who are hired for a heist. They become frenemies and then become friends while Jack Harlow yells at us, Paul Walter Hauser insults us, Ving Rhames hunts us, and Hong Chau keeps us alive.”
The picture not only marked a sort of comeback for the two well-known Bostonians, but it also marked Damon’s first collaboration with director Doug Liman since “The Bourne Identity” in 2002. When asked what attracted him to the film, Damon responds, “Casey Affleck and [co-writer] Chuck MacLean had created some great characters and a really fun world.” More than anything, it was a chance to work with Doug and Casey together that I was the most excited about. And it’s always great to go back to Boston.”
On the subject of teaming back up with Liman, Damon said, “I absolutely love working with Doug. I can’t believe it took us 20 years to find something else to do together. Doug is one of the most creatively tenacious people I’ve ever met. He just won’t stop until the movie is as good as it can be, and that is the best possible thing you can feel from a director. I trust him completely.”
“It was so fulfilling to see how each of us has grown,” Liman added. “And by that, I mean to see how much Matt has grown. And not just as an actor.”
When Affleck, Damon, and Casey were rising stars attempting to break through in Hollywood, they shared a home with Ben, Casey’s brother and fellow actor. The three had been friends since elementary school. When asked how it felt to collaborate with two seasoned criminal associates, Liman responds, “Like I was parachuted into a family.” He adds, “With ‘Bourne,‘ I was inviting Matt into my world. But with Instigators, I was very clear being dropped into Matt’s family. And all that history, good and bad, is on the screen.”
This will be the second film that Liman is releasing this year, following the release of his “Road House” remake that released back in March, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. It seems as though Liman wants to get back in the director’s chair more often these days. Whether or not that will turn out to be a good thing is something we will have to wait out and see.
“The Instigators” will be released in select theaters on August 2 before streaming globally on Apple TV+ on August 9. Take a look at the first look below.
