BEN AFFLECK AND MATT DAMON'S LONG HOLLYWOOD BROMANCE
By David Crow
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s The Last Duel is the latest project from the pair to have emerged from a long creative partnership.
The Last Duel is a medieval passion play for the #MeToo era, and marks the first screenplay Damon and Affleck have co-written since Good Will Hunting!
The Last Duel
Good Will Hunting began as a writing assignment for Damon at Harvard, but he soon brought in his childhood buddy Affleck to flesh it out and reimagine the premise.
It took years to get made, especially since Damon and Affleck wanted to star in it, too.
In the end, it took Affleck’s director on Chasing Amy, Kevin Smith, to read it and champion it for a studio to agree.
The 1997 film was a career-defining success for both men and won them a Best Original Screenplay Oscar.
It was also the first peak of a creative career that had already seen them starring in supporting parts together, like in 1992’s School Ties.
Afterward, the duo co-starred in lead roles as fallen angels in Kevin Smith’s Dogma.
And they also founded two production companies together, starting with LivePlanet.
That 2000s venture produced Project Greenlight and films like Joy Ride and Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone.
Gone Baby Gone
Their second production company Pearl Street Films, founded in 2012, is still going.
And its output has included the likes of Manchester by the Sea, Damon’s Promised Land, Affleck’s Live by Night, and now The Last Duel.
Live by Night
The new film sees the two pals playing enemies, with Damon’s ostracized knight challenging the favorite courtier to Affleck’s nobleman.
But more than 30 years since going to high school together, these two still appear to be on great terms off-screen.