20 Years After Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s 2nd Movie Script Failed Miserably Losing $70 Million at Box Office
Since childhood, talented actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have remained close friends. Even though the competitive industry does not let people be on friendly terms for too long, there are some duos who have stood the test of time. Damon and Affleck appear to be one of those duos.
From supporting each other’s movies to attending sporting events, they are most often seen together, sharing a laugh. The duo has worked together on two movies – Good Will Hunting, which became a phenomenal success, and The Last Duel, which lost money at the box office.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Wrote 2 Movies
Starting their careers together, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck faced numerous obstacles before securing their big break. They started auditioning together back in the day and built their rich filmography from the ground up. After being on screen for minimal roles, they first shared the screen on Chasing Amy.
Good Will Hunting was the first movie where the two good friends Damon and Affleck collaborated. They wrote the movie’s screenplay and had a special vision they wanted to bring to life. However, making the critically acclaimed movie back then was not an easy task.
They went through thousands of pages of ideas and dialogue before finally closing in on a confirmed screenplay. On an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2021, Damon said,
“I mean, I think Good Will Hunting took us so long. We were, like, unemployed, broke guys. It took us forever to write that screenplay. I think we wrote thousands and thousands of pages. I don’t think we really knew what we were doing. I think that kind of put us off writing again because we never thought we’d have the time.”
Originally, Damon and Affleck wrote the movie as a thriller that involved government agents and a high-adrenaline chase. However, slowly, during talks with production houses, they realized it was better to keep the movie humane and showcase the deep relationship between a troubled adult and their therapist. The movie shot the duo to stardom despite leaving them broke a few months later. They found success in their careers and bagged better roles henceforth.
Also Read: The Last Duel: Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Kissing Scene Cut By The Director
Making The Last Duel After 20 Years
Seeing how much time it took for them to write and rewrite Good Will Hunting, Damon, and Affleck put off collaborating for almost 20 years. In 2021, they came back with a historical movie called The Last Duel that bombed at the box office. Even though the movie maintains an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and received good reviews, it did not do well in terms of numbers. The movie only gained $30 million despite costing $100 million to make.
For this movie as well, Damon and Affleck shared an initial idea and inspiration they wanted to emulate. They reached out to Ridley Scott to direct the movie because “it was right in his wheelhouse,” as Damon says on The Tonight Show. Considering the movie is about the last sanctioned duel in medieval France, they wanted to share three possible perspectives of the story.
They contacted Nicole Holofcener to help them write their respective perspectives. Based in the 1360s, The Last Duel follows the story of two knights who fight to death after one is accused of raping the other knight’s wife.
